Pokémon World
by Iwin Ulose
Summary: Zac, Chris, and Andrew have all won their second Badge! After saying goodbye to the Gym Leader Misty and her famous boyfriend Ash Ketchum, they start their trip to Vermilion City. What other adventures await them in Pokémon World? Read to find out!
1. A Typical Day at School

**Disclaimer:** You will find that in this fic the majority of the characters are my own original ones. You'll see what I mean eventually. You will also see a bunch of characters from Pokemon, and I do not own any of them. Oh, yeah, and if my OCs have any likeness to a real person (who I don't personally know), it's completely coincidence.

Chapter 1 : Beginnings- A Typical Day of School

Zac Merlo sighs and puts his head down on the lunch table. The cafeteria is loud with the talk and laughter of many 5th graders. Being in the lowest grade in middle school sucks. Zac is done eating and is waiting for recess to start. His good friend Chris Mattice pokes his shoulder.

"Hey, Zac, what's wrong?" Chris inquires.

"Oh, nothing," Zac sighs. "Just kinda bored."

"Aren't we all?" Chris replies sullenly.

Zac sits up and watches the other kids in the lunchroom. He watches the "popular kids"; Zac has never had any interest in being popular. He and his friends are _not_ popular. They're generally hated and made fun of. He sees a couple kiss.

"So stupid," Zac mutters. "We're only in 5th grade.…"

"What are you talking about?" Chris asks.

"That guy and his girlfriend," Zac replies, pointing at the couple. "I mean, 8th grade is one thing.…"

"When I have a girlfriend, it won't be until high school," says Chris.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, wait. Did Chris Mattice just say 'I have' and 'girlfriend' in the same sentence? Not possible. That sentence doesn't make sense."

A kid name Michael Levitz sits at their table. He's new... kind of. He was kicked out of his old school for going crazy and attacking his teachers. Kids know who he is. Zac and Levitz are kind of friends. They barely know each other. Levitz enjoys making fun of Chris and not being friends with him.

"Shut up, Mike," Chris says angrily.

Levitz laughs. "Why?" He suddenly glares at Chris. "I'll fucking kill you."

Zac shakes his head. "Levitz, you're amazing."

"What are you talking about!" Chris cries. "He's gonna-"

Suddenly, the lunch aid lady person calls out, "It's time for recess! Single file!"

Everyone frantically runs to the door in a very non-single-file fashion. A few kids who don't like being outside in January stay inside, including Levitz. Zac and Chris make it outside.

"Hmm... I guess Levitz didn't wanna come out," Zac says thoughtfully.

"Whatever," Chris says, obviously uninterested. "Let's play a game!"

"Yeah?" says Zac. "Like what? Like the kind of shit you, me, and Geoff did in elementary school?"

Geoff Ng (pronounced "Ang". Yes, he's Chinese.) is an old friend of Zac's and Chris's. In elementary school, the three were inseparable. However, they became separable when Geoff had to go to the Catholic private school for middle school. Geoff is Zac's best friend, but they haven't talked in a pretty long time.

"Well, let's play Pokemon," Chris says brightly. "We don't have the Game Boy version..." He points to the group of kids surrounding another kid playing Red Version on his Game Boy Pocket. "...so we can play our own version."

Zac shakes his head. "Sounds stupid, but... okay."

They proceed to pretend they are in the Pokemon League. Zac uses Blastoise; Chris uses Venusaur. They go through the tournament and beat all the other Trainers in the League. They now have to go against each other.

"Ready?" says Zac.

"Yeah!" Chris replies excitedly. "Go Venusaur!" He pretends to throw a Pokeball.

Zac smiles. "Hm. This is gonna be easy. Go Fearow!"

"What! That's not fair! You have to use Blastoise!"

"Who says? Now go, use Fly! Then use Drill P-"

Suddenly, everything freezes. No one and nothing is moving. There's no sound. Zac starts to freak out. Then, there's a sudden WOOSH! Everything goes black, then everything starts spinning and Zac suddenly takes off into the air. His surroundings are now completely unrecognizable as he hurtles through the air, screaming but not hearing his screams in the whoosh of sound.

(I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna-) Zac thinks to himself. (A/N- Anything in ( ) is a thought.) Zac's thoughts are interrupted; everything goes black again.

(Oh god, I _am_ dead.)

Actually, he isn't dead. The trip just ended, that's all.

"I have a feeling I'm not dead, and my trip just ended, that's all," Zac says to himself. "But trip to where?"

He suddenly hits something very hard face-first. At first he thinks it's an invisible wall. Then, his sight and smell and kick in. He realizes he actually hit the ground, or _a_ ground anyway, because he's definitely not on Earth anymore.

Zac groans. "Oh God... this must be what being trashed feels like. Huge headache, can't stand up... ooohh..."

Despite the fact he is battling some sort of hangover-like symptoms, he is able to struggle up to his feet- and he nearly falls back down again when he sees his surroundings.

"Wha-what the...!"

Nothing is the same. Nothing looks... real. It's all... animated. The grass, the trees, the fat person laying face-first a few yards away...

"Wait, what! Is that... Chris?"

Zac runs over to the still figure. He tries with all his might to roll Chris onto his back, but like I said, he is fat. However, Chris groans and rolls over. They look at each other's face and jump away, yelling.

"What the hell is going on!" Zac yells. "We're animated! We have big eyes, big hair, small mouths...! What is this called again?"

"Um, uh... ooh, ooh!" Chris says as the answer comes to him. "It's... anime! We are anime characters now! COOL!"

"Nooo, _not_ cool. How are we gonna get home, moron?"

"Who cares!" Chris replies angrily. "I hate home anyway..."

Zac sighs and looks around. To his right, there is a big grassy slope going up. He can't see what's beyond it. To his left, there seems to be a large body of water. He runs over there, Chris puffing along behind. He looks into the water, at his reflection. He gasps. His huge, blue eyes go even wider as he touches his face over and over again. It feels like skin, but looks so... unreal. He ruffles his brown hair. It's still the same, just bigger-looking and a _little_ spiky. Chris also looks at his reflection in amazement. His hair is yellow blonde instead of dirty blonde. Unlike Zac's, it is flat and combed, the long bangs almost reaching his hazel eyes. It is unnaturally shiny in the front. A nearby fisherman watches in confusion with a very strange look on his face that says "what the hell are these guys on?" Suddenly, he is interrupted by a tug on his pole. He immediately pulls his catch out of the water. This catches Zac's and Chris's attention. They gasp as realization dawns on their faces. The fish that was just pulled out... is a Goldeen!

"We're in the Pokemon World!" Zac and Chris exclaim together.

The fisherman watches the kids run off in amazement as he throws the Goldeen back in. The two friends run to the grassy slope. All the way up until they reach the top of the hill. They look down and gasp. Laid out before them is a town, a rather small-looking town, but a town nonetheless. Chris is breathless.

"Which town do you think this is?" Chris says, eyes wild with excitement.

"I dunno..." Zac replies. "Let's go find out!"

Without hesitating, the two kids run down the steep hill. Zac falls and rolls the rest of the way down while Chris laughs his ass off.

Zac is out of breath. "Look... a sign..."

"It says... 'Welcome to Pallet Town'..." Chris reads, also out of breath. Zac and Chris both gasp in excitement.

"Pallet Town!" Zac exclaims. "Home of Ash Ketchum!"

"Come on!" Chris says excitedly. "Let's see if we can find him!"

"All right!" Zac agrees.

The two boys run into town with the most excited looks on their faces. Residents working on their yards look up and stare at them as they run past. Zac and Chris just give them big anime-type smiles and wave. An elderly man looks out his window as they pass by.

"Hmmm... who are these kids? Friends of the Pokemon Champion, perhaps...?"

**So how is it so far? I'm actually kinda disappointed at how the first chapter came out, but hey, that's my opinion! Now let's hear yours! Please review!**


	2. Double Journey

Chapter 2- Double Journey

**Character Ages (I forgot this last time):**

Zac and Chris: 11

**I will update the ages whenever needed. Like, you know, when new characters are introduced. Or reintroduced. Yeah...**

Zac and Chris are running through the town. However, they soon realize how strange they look, running for no apparent reason, so they slow to a walk.

"Hey, you see that big building over there?" Zac suddenly asks.

"Yeah," Chris replies thoughtfully. "What do you think it is?"

"Um... the biggest building in the town... How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Well, let's go see," says Chris, glaring at Zac for the rude comment.

They turn around and head toward the big building. It is very big and white. Behind it there is a huge fenced-off area with really green grass, a good number of trees, and even a few ponds. There are several Pokemon there. Some are eating, some are playing, and some are just resting. There aren't any Pokemon in the ponds. Maybe it's because it's cold. The two boys just stand there in amazement for a while until a man walks out of the building. He walks up to them.

"Hi there," he says. "Can I help you boys?"

Zac and Chris jump in surprise. They turn to face the man. Zac places him in his mid-50s. He has messy gray hair and a slightly lined face. His skin is relatively tanned from being outside often. He is wearing what appears to be a large white lab coat.

"Um..." Zac says slowly. "We were just looking... at the Pokemon..."

The man laughs. "Yes, I noticed. Are you new here?"

"Yeah... kind of..." Chris replies, scratching his head.

The man holds out his hand. "Well, my name is Professor Oak."

Zac shakes Oak's hand. "Hey, yeah, I know who you are!"

Oak chuckles. "I get that a lot."

While they're talking, Oak is sizing up the two boys. He can tell they are definitely not from around here. In fact, they act as if Pokemon is something completely new to them.

"Hey, uh, boys, where do you live, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Um, well..." Zac says doubtfully. "You've probably never heard of it."

"Try me," Oak replies kindly.

"Okay... um... New Jersey?"

Oak thinks for a second. "Nope, never heard of it."

"Well, it's really hard to explain," Chris says, "but we don't belong here."

"Huh? You don't belong where?"

"This... this whole world," Chris struggles to explain. "I don't know how to explain it, because I don't even know the reason myself, but we're stranded here with no way to get home."

"Oh, my god..." Oak gasps. "Well, what do you kids plan on doing?"

Zac and Chris look at each other. Chris shrugs. "I guess we are going to go on a journey. We need to find a way home."

"A journey, eh?" Oak says thoughtfully. "Well..." Oak knows that these two boys cannot go out into the world unprepared. They have no Pokemon, nor any knowledge on how to catch one. They have no food, no supplies... (There has to be something I can do...) "Listen, why don't you kids come inside my lab for a minute?" "Okay," Zac answers, a little surprised.

Zac and Chris follow Oak, wondering what he wants with them. Oak leads them into the entry hall and into the lab. A few scientists in white coats are seen working on one thing or another. The main room is comfortable and relaxing. It is Oak's own study room, and this is also where he stores all the Pokemon he takes care of and the Pokeball transporter. There are big bookcases with lots of shelves packed with hundreds of books. Zac looks around in amazement; he has never even dreamed of this ever happening to him...

"Well, here we are," Oak says, smiling. "Why don't you kids take a seat?"

Zac and Chris do so. They hear Oak mumbling to himself.

"Well, you two can't go out into the world on your own. It is too dangerous. What you need are Pokemon. Now today happens to be one of the days three kids from Pallet come here and choose which Pokemon they want to start their journey with. The choices are-"

"Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander," Zac finishes for him. "We know."

"How do you guys know that?" Oak inquires, very confused.

"Well..." Zac explains. "Where we come from, Pokemon is very popular. It is a hit TV series and a really good video game. The main character is Ash Ketchum..."

"Ah!" Oak says cheerfully. "Pallet's own Pokemon Master, Ash Ketchum! He is the winner of the Kanto and Hoenn Leagues. In about a month, the Johto League starts again, and Ash wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"Um... okay," Chris says, not caring too much about Ash's plans for the future.

"Oh, yeah!" Oak exclaims. "I'm getting off track here! Sorry about that. So, anyway, I have made my decision. The kids will be extremely unhappy, but you two need these..."

Oak looks into Zac's eyes... in a non-homosexual way, of course. (Hmmm... he has that same look in his eyes as Ash... This kid is fated to do great things! He could catch up to Ash one day!) "All right, you two; the time has come to choose!"

"What!" Zac exclaims, springing up from his seat. "You mean it?"

Oak grins. "Of course. Like I said, you can't go out there alone."

"But..." Chris says uncertainly. "What about the kids who are supposed to choose?"

"Well, they _will_ be disappointed, but I'm sure they'll understand. I can help them catch their own Pokemon."

"Oh, those poor kids," Zac says sadly. "I wouldn't want to deprive them of this, their lifelong dream, but... I WANT SQUIRTLE! GIVE ME SQUIRTLE!"

"Uh, calm down, you look like an idiot," Chris says indignantly. He politely clears his throat. "I WANT BULBASAUR! UUUH... PLEASE!"

"Okay, okay!" Oak laughs. "You kids sure are excited... Here you go! Take good care of them. Remember, treat them with the love and respect they deserve, and-"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Zac interrupts impatiently.

"Sorry he's so rude, Professor..." Chris sighs.

"Hahaha," Oak laughs again. "No big deal. Oh, yeah, one more thing..." Oak walks to a big desk. There are three small unopened boxes. He takes two and hands them to Zac and Chris. They open them. "Your very own Pokedexes. They will really help you, trust me. Just turn them on so they can recognize you as their owners. And... that's it."

"Um, we don't have any money... or food," Zac says, frowning.

"Hmmm... good point," Oak replies thoughtfully. "Well, listen-" He goes into a side room and comes out with two shiny, golden rocks. "-sell these. The first town you will go to is Viridian City. Sell these at the store and that should give you a good start. Also, make sure you battle for money; it's the way all Trainers keep money in their pockets. Okay? And here, 6 Pokeballs for each of you... Make sure to catch your own, okay? And listen... good luck. Here is my card." He hands them a business card. "If you ever need help, do NOT hesitate to call. All right? Also, if I find any information on how to get you kids back home, I'll get in touch with you ASAP."

"Wow... we sure are lucky to have met you, Professor!" Zac says happily. "Thank you SO much!"

"No problem! Oh, yeah, and if you happen to see Ash in your travels... say hi to him for me, okay?"

"Okay, we will," Chris promises. "Bye!"

Oak watches as the kids leave. An aid walks up to him. "So you think those kids will be all right?" Oak doesn't respond. "...Hello? Sir?"

"Huh, wha-?" Oak seems to snap out of a reverie. "Oh, sorry! I guess I was a little lost in thought there. Yeah, they'll be all right. In fact, they will become great Trainers."

The aid shakes her head. "It's amazing how you can tell someone is gonna be great just by looking at them."

Oak chuckles. "I know, isn't it great?"

As the aid walks away, Oak looks out the window. (Good luck, you two. Be careful. Ash, you better watch yourself. You could end up facing your first defeat in 3 years...)

**Yeah, that's it for this chapter. There will be action next chapter, I promise. Make sure you review!**


	3. An Unfair Advantage

Chapter 3 – First Battle!

Zac and Chris are walking down the main path of Pallet Town, heading for the road that leads to Viridian City. "Hmmm..." says Zac. "Did Oak say anything about how long the trip will be?" "No, I don't think so," Chris replies. "It probably won't be _that_ long."

Zac takes out his Pokedex yet again and looks at the time... yet again. "It's 9 o'clock," he says anxiously. "This is when those kids are supposed to go to Oak's and pick their Pokemon."

"Don't worry," Chris replies. "He said they're nice kids, and they'll understand. Why are you so worried?"

"I dunno..." Zac says slowly. "I mean, think about it. How would _you_ feel if you've been looking forward to this day since you were, like, 4 or 5 years old, and suddenly, these two complete strangers just walk in town and completely ruin it for you? I'd be pretty damn upset, myself..."

"I guess..." says Chris, obviously not as upset as Zac is. "You know, I've never seen this side of you before. I've never seen you care about someone's feelings so much! I mean, look at _our_ positions. We're stranded here. We have no way of getting home, and no way to protect ourselves. I mean, what was Oak supposed to do? Just _ignore_ us? I don't think so."

They both stay silent for a good while. Zac looks at the time again. Ten after. He sighs.

Suddenly, someone behind them shouts. Zac and Chris stop and turn. They can make out three figures running full speed towards them.

"You don't think...?" Chris gasps.

Zac bows his head. His eyes become hidden in shadow. "I knew it," he mutters. "They're angry."

They stand and wait for the three kids to catch up to them. After about a minute, they finally do. Two of the kids go down on their knees, trying to regain their breath. The kid in front stays standing, glaring at Zac and Chris, sweating and breathing very heavily.

"You... two... give us the... Pokemon... NOW!" Chris looks at the kid yelling at them and the two on their knees behind him. The two kids behind him are a boy and a girl. They both are redheads. They have very neat hair, freckles, and blue eyes. They look like twins. The one yelling at them has wild green hair, and a lot of it. It looks like it hasn't been brushed in ages. His brown eyes are filled with anger.

"Those Pokemon belong to us. Hand them over!" At this point, the two kids behind him get up and start glaring at Zac and Chris along with their companion. "We are meant to have those Pokemon! Professor Oak told us 6 years ago! They are meant for us!"

"Um... well... you see..." Chris fumbles with his words trying to figure out what to say.

"Look," Zac suddenly cuts in. Chris gives Zac a surprised look. He still has his head bowed. "I understand where you're coming from, but..." Suddenly, Zac's head snaps up. He looks at the green-haired kid with an almost angry look on his face. "...these Pokemon are ours! Oak chose to give them to us. We need them! We're stranded, and-"

"I don't wanna hear it!" the kid practically screams. "I don't _care_ if the Professor suddenly decided to change his mind when he _woke_ up this morning! He made a promise, and if he doesn't intend to keep that promise, I'll keep it _for_ him!"

Zac shakes his head. "Well, then... we have a problem here, don't we?" He stops for a second. "So, you gonna tell us your names, or not?"

"I'm Frank, and these twins behind me are Dylan and Dalyla. Yours?"

"I'm Zac, the fat one's Chris." "HEY!" "Calm down, it's just a joke..."

"Well, Zac," Frank declares, "if you won't give them to us, we'll take them from you!"

"Yeah?" Zac rolls up his sleeves. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Hey, uh, guys," Chris cuts in tentatively. "We don't need to settle this by fighting, do we?"

"GRRRR. What's _wrong_ with you, Chris?" Zac growls. "What the hell are we supposed to do? Flip a coin?"

"No, you _idiot_," Chris retorts. "Remember where we are now? We settle things with Pokemon battles!"

Frank is now thoroughly confused. "All right... um... if you guys are _done_, can we get this thing started?"

"Yah, you'll be goin' against me," Zac declares. "One on one, I guess?"

Frank chuckles. "In most cases, yes. I would normally have only one Pokemon, my Charmander. But this is a special case." He smirks. He lifts his jacket up a little to reveal two Pokeballs attached to his belt. Zac's eyes go wide. "How did you-!"

"Forget it," Frank interrupts. "Your two Pokemon versus my two Pokemon. First, I'll send out my Charmander!" The boy throws a Pokeball. It opens, and in a flash of red light, a Charmander comes out of it. The Ball flies back to its owner's hand. Zac's heart leaps. This is the first time he has ever seen a real live Pokemon so up close!

"Chris, you got this one?" Chris takes a step back, eyes wild with fear, and gulps. "Um... y-you sure about this?" "Yeah," Zac replies. "Go on. I wanna go against his second one."

Chris, visibly shaking, steps forward and takes out his sole Pokeball with his trembling left hand. (All right, this is it,) Chris thinks to himself grimly. "Go, Bulbasaur!" He throws the Ball. Bulbasaur comes out. "Bulba, Bulbasaur!" it says. It turns around and looks at Chris, its new Trainer. It has a look of determination on its face; it's ready to fight. "All right... Bulbasaur, use Tackle!"

The battle starts. Charmander takes the hit and grunts in pain. "Scratch attack!" Charmander spins around and hits Bulbasaur with all its might. Bulbasaur skids back about a foot, its eyes closed tight in pain. It shakes it off and glares at its opponent. Charmander is coming in for another attack. "Bulbasaur, dodge and use Growl!" Bulbasaur sidesteps just in time and growls menacingly at Charmander. It sweatdrops and takes a step back. "Good! Now use Tackle!" Bulbasaur throws his entire bodyweight into Charmander's chest, causing it to go flying. Bulbasaur lands on its feet and Charmander hits the ground hard and rolls a few feet. It gets up, battered and bruised. "Show that goddamn stupid plant! Scratch!" Bulbasaur takes the hit. It doesn't seem to hurt him as much as before. (Good,) Chris thinks smugly. (I don't know how, but Growl really does lower the opponent's Attack.) "Go, Tackle!" "Tail Whip!" Bulbasaur charges in for another full-body Tackle, but Charmander hits it away with its fire-tipped tail. Bulbasaur isn't really hurt, but the attack puts its guard down. "Scratch!" Bulbasaur takes the hit again. It hurts more this time. Now, both Pokemon are battered and worn out. "Charmander! Finish this, our first battle! SCRATCH ATTAAAAAACK!" "Charmander!" the Pokemon cries before flinging itself at Bulbasaur with its paw raised. "Bulbasaur, stand your ground!" Zac's eyes go wide. "What are you doing!" "Trust me..." Chris says quietly.

Charmander is getting closer...

Bulbasaur's face is getting grimmer...

Charmander raises its paw higher, eyes going wider as it sees the end of the battle...

"NOW, TACKLE!"

BOOM. Right in the gut. Charmander yells out in pain and goes flying. Bulbasaur just threw his entire weight into Charmander's stomach. Charmander hits the ground hard and doesn't get up. "It's over..." Zac mutters, almost disbelievingly.

"No, Charmander!" Frank lowers his head in defeat. Dalyla starts to sob.

"Hey, it's all right," Dylan says soothingly. "He still has his backup! She won't fail." Dalyla wipes the tears out of her eyes, looks up at her twin brother, and nods. Dylan scowls and clenches his fist. "That Bulbasaur was gonna be mine. Clobber this kid good, got it, Frank?"

Frank returns his Charmander and nods. "Don't worry... I will." A big grin suddenly splits his face. A slightly crazy grin. "A mere Squirtle can't beat _her_." He takes his second Pokeball and looks down at it. "Give up now, Zac! Spare your Squirtle a horrible, painful first defeat!"

Chris congratulates his Bulbasaur and returns it. He looks grimly at Zac. "Do your best."

Zac smirks. "This kid is so stupid. He won't beat me. No way." He takes out his Pokeball. He looks down at it in wonder. (Is this real? Am I really a... Pokemon Trainer?) He takes a deep breath and releases it. "All right, Squirtle, let's show this guy! COME ON OUT!" He throws the Ball. Squirtle comes out in a flash of red light. Zac catches his Pokeball, his mind completely numb.

(This feeling... it's amazing! The thrill of just _releasing_ my Squirtle... It's like nothing I've ever felt!)

Squirtle looks up at its Trainer. Its face is full of curiosity as it sums up its Trainer in a glance. Zac looks back at it. He smiles. A small grin creeps onto Squirtle's face. (It's like a human. It seems more like a human to me than a... a creature.) Suddenly, both of their thoughts are interrupted as Frank laughs.

"Are you ready! This is it!" He throws his Pokeball. "GO... PIDGEOT!"

Zac's, Chris's, and Squirtle's eyes go wide in disbelief... and terror. Dylan and Dalyla smirk. Frank gives the biggest grin humanly possible... well, as humanly possible in anime, which is freakin' _huge_. Sure enough, the red light subsides to reveal a full-grown Pidgeot.

(Th-that's the fully evolved form of Pidgey!) Zac thinks in horror. (How is that possible? He's only been a Trainer for, like, a half hour!)

Frank laughs at the expression on his opponent's face. "What's the matter, huh? You look like you've seen a ghost!" He laughs even harder.

For some reason, Zac feels a shiver run down his spine when Frank says "ghost". (What was that? Forget it... I gotta concentrate on this battle!) Zac finds he's sweating in the January air. He wipes the sweat off his brow. "I wouldn't be laughing... if I were you!"

Frank just keeps on laughing. "Yeah? Is that so? Do something about it, then!" Zac just glares at him. "No? You're not gonna do anything? Fine, then. Pidgeot, Gust attack!

The second round begins. Squirtle gets picked up by the Gust and thrown a few yards. It gets up, grimacing. (Oh, no! The poor guy's already hurt! This isn't _fair_!) "Squirtle, hang in there! Let's get in there with a Tackle!" Pidgeot takes it like it's nothing. "Ha! Zac, you fool! Pidgeot, Wing Attack!" "Roll out of the way!" Squirtle does so. "Tail Whip!" Squirtle hits Pidgeot from behind with a Tail Whip. "Great, now Tackle!" Bam, right in the wings. Pidgeot stumbles forward a couple steps, eyes shut in pain. "Geot, geot!" she screeches. (Ha, this isn't about level at all!) Zac thinks with glee. (It's all about strategy and skill. Of course, a high level helps a lot, but we'll develop that in time.) "You like gettin' your ass kicked by a completely newbie Lvl.5 Squirtle? Ha! Jackass!"

A vein pops out in Frank's forehead and starts throbbing. "I _suggest_ you shut your mouth... You still have _no_ idea what you're up against!" "Oh, is that so?" "Yeah, it is! Pidgeot, Fly!"

Zac gets serious again. He frowns up at Pidgeot. (Damn, this is bad...) He looks at Squirtle, and judging by the look on its face, it's thinking the same thing he is. "Now, Pidgeot, come down! Hit Squirtle with all your might!" "Squirtle, dive to your left!" It does so. Pidgeot hits the ground, and before the dust clears, she springs right into Squirtle's face. Squirtle just about pisses itself. "WING ATTACK!" BAM! Squirtle goes flying into a tree. It gets up... barely. "Now, Pidgeot, finish it with Sky Attack!" Pidgeot starts to glow. "Quick, Squirtle, hit her with Tackle!" Squirtle does so. Pidgeot winces and stumbles back a few steps. "HA, HA! YOU'RE TOO LATE! IT'S NOT ENOUGH! FINISH IT, PIDGEOT!" "Jeez, man, calm the hell down, will ya?" Squirtle runs and hides behind a tree. Pidgeot soars into the air, and as quick as lightning, strikes the tree. The tree trunk smashes into pieces. The tree hits the ground.

"SQUIRTLE!" Zac cries out.

Squirtle comes out from behind the leaves unscathed. It was able to roll out of the way just in time. "Yeah! Great job, buddy!" Pidgeot flies back a little bit to her original position from when the battle started. Squirtle runs to the same spot on its side of the field. It's out of breath. Pidgeot nibbles at her wings trying to get some dirt off of them. It seems to coo to itself. "Well, Zac, got any last words?"

"Yeah. I do.

"YOU SUCK."

Frank laughs again. "You truly are pathetic. Determined, I'll give you that... but pathetic." He smirks. "It's time to end this. _Really_ end this. Pidgeot... TAKE DOWN!"

Zac's eyes go wide in shock again. (How is this possible? Gust, Wing Attack, Fly, Sky Attack, and Take Down... That's five moves! I could have sworn it was four!) "You're cheating!" "Oh, yeah, is that so?" "Yeah! Pokemon can only have _four_ moves!" "Ha! Shows what _you_ know! Where have you been? It's been five for about two years now!"

Zac frowns heavily. (Damn, I can't believe it.)

Frank scowls at Pidgeot. "Well, what are you waiting for? Take Down! Now!" Pidgeot glances back at her Trainer. She ruffles her feathers indignantly. She braces her legs, but before she can start the attack, Squirtle freaks out and runs to its Trainer, hiding behind his legs. It peeks around his legs, looking at Pidgeot with a terrified look on its face. "Hey, what's the big id-" Zac stops himself as he looks down at his poor Pokemon. His eyes and his voice soften. "Hey, buddy, it's okay. We can do this together, right?" It firmly shakes its head. "Squirtle, Squirtle," it says in a shaky voice.

"Gah, I don't have time for this! Pidgeot, plow the Trainer over if you have to! Just FINISH THIS BATTLE! Take Down, go!"

Pidgeot squawks its compliance. She braces herself... and takes off. Zac's eyes go wide in shock. (No...!)

He stays in front of his Pokemon. He crosses his arms in front of him in an X formation, closes his eyes tight, and turns his head away. Squirtle looks up at his Trainer, standing there to protect it, then looks at the charging Pidgeot. Its little face goes serious and it jumps out in front of Zac. It goes into its shell in front of Zac's chest. Zac opens his eyes and instinctively grabs the shell. Pidgeot hits the shell, hard. Squirtle's shell rams hard into Zac's chest. He yells out in pain and goes flying back a couple yards, but he never lets go of the shell. He lands hard on his back. He doesn't get up.

"Zac!' Chris cries out. He runs up to him and his Squirtle. Zac opens an eye. Squirtle comes out of its shell and looks into its Trainer's eyes. Its battered face breaks into a smile. Zac smiles back. Chris kneels down beside them.

"Oh, god, this is so touching, it makes me sick."

Chris glares at Frank. "Have you no heart?" "Yes, I do! Enough to realize how devastated my two best friends are, enough to win back the Pokemon that rightfully belong to them! Grrrr... AAAH! I'm getting _sick_ of this! This has gone on long enough! Pidgeot, Take Down!"

Chris scrambles out of the way. Squirtle forces itself out of his Trainer's hands and jumps up into the air to intercept Pidgeot; except this time, it doesn't go into its shell.

It uses Bubble.

Zac's mind goes numb once again. (I-I don't believe it! Doesn't a Pokemon need to finish a battle before it levels up and learns a new move? And even if that's not true, how the hell did Squirtle learn something new in the middle of its FIRST battle?)

The Bubble doesn't hurt Pidgeot much, but it stops her dead in her tracks. She falls a few inches back down to the ground. "Tackle!" Bam. Another hit. Pidgeot stumbles back. However, she is still only barely hurt, while Squirtle can barely _move_.

"Amazing! I can't believe that Squirtle learned Bubble so fast!" Frank looks back at Dalyla. "See how amazing that Squirtle is? It'll be rightfully yours again in just a couple minutes, okay?" "Yeah," Dalyla replies happily, nodding her head. Frank smiles, then turns back to the battle and glares at Squirtle. "That's it... Let's see your precious Bubble stop another Sky Attack!"

Pidgeot nods, fully understanding. She starts glowing. She soars into the sky...

Chris gasps. Zac scowls, not knowing what else he can do. Squirtle just gives a tired, battle-worn smile, knowing the end has finally come...

"No! Stop!"

Pidgeot stops glowing and freezes in midair, looking behind her to see the source of the voice. The three kids from Pallet look back, too. Zac, Chris, and Squirtle look past their opponents to see who it is, too.

It's none other than Professor Oak. He reaches the kids. He doubles over, trying to regain his breath. "Stop... this nonsense... Frank... That Squirtle... can barely... defend itself... It was low of you to use... your brother's... Pidgeot like that!"

"It's not just his," Franks mutters sulkily. "It's mine, too."

"I know," says Oak. "I know you and that Pidgeot grew up together, but don't forget it was your older brother who found her and saved her life."

Zac gasps in understanding. (So _that's_ how he got that Pidgeot!)

Dylan looks at Oak angrily. "But, Professor, it's not fair! When we were six, we swore to take the three Pokemon and get the Badges together when we were finally old enough. We _swore_ it! And you promised to help fulfill that dream! That Bulbasaur is supposed to be mine, and that Squirtle belongs to my sister!"

Oak shakes his head. "Why do you kids doubt me like this? You should know I always have good reasons for doing things. I know this seems crazy to you, but... these kids are from a different world. They have no home, at least not here, and they are stranded here, probably for a very long time. They had no money, no supplies, no Pokemon to protect themselves with... I _had_ to do it. I'm sorry, kids, but life goes on. I can help you two twins catch your first Pokemon. Frank, I am proud that you tried so hard to help your best friends, but you did more harm than good." Oak gives a warm smile. "But, hey, everyone makes mistakes."

Frank shakes his head. "Th-they even tried to explain what happened to them, why they got our... I mean, _the_ Pokemon... instead of us." Frank turns back to Zac. "I am so sorry." Zac is shocked about this sudden change in his opponent.

"It's okay." Everyone looks at Chris's smiling face. "Like the Professor said, everyone makes mistakes sometimes." "Yeah," Zac agrees. "Just never make such a big one again."

Everyone laughs, even Frank. "What?" says Zac. "I mean it." Chris sighs and hits Zac upside the head. "You're dumb." "I'll let that one slide..." Zac mutters dangerously, rubbing the sore spot on his head. Squirtle runs up to Zac. It looks up at him and smiles again. "Squirtle, Squirtle!" it says cheerfully. Suddenly, it passes out. "Squirtle!" Zac cries out.

"Don't worry," Oak says calmly. "It just passed out from exhaustion, nothing more. Nothing a little visit to the Pokemon Center won't fix." Zac nods and returns his Squirtle back to its Pokeball.

"Oh, yeah," Zac says thoughtfully. "Professor, what are our Pokemon's genders?" "Hmmm... ah, yes. Squitle is a boy, and Bulbasaur is a girl." He looks at Frank. "And Charmander is female as well." "Thanks," says Frank.

Everyone is silent for a moment. Frank speaks up. "Professor, I'm not going on the journey." "What!" the twins cry out. "Not just yet, anyway," Frank adds. "I obviously have a lot to learn. I really lost it back there. My understanding of... well, life, is very limited... I guess. I'm gonna stay with Professor Oak for a while and learn new stuff from him. Here." He throws a Pokeball to Dylan. "Take my Charmander. She doesn't really know me as her Trainer yet, so she should listen to you."

"I'm proud of you, Frank," Oak says happily. "Okay, I'm sick of this," Zac declares. "Let's go, Chris. Thanks for the battle, Frank."

Frank blinks in confusion. "You're... welcome... I guess..." Chris sighs and shakes his head at Zac again. "You're unbelievable..."

"Goodbye, you two," Oak says cheerfully. "Good luck with your journey, and don't forget to catch as many Pokemon as you can on the way!"

"We won't," Chris replies. "Bye, everyone!"

"I hope we can meet again!" Zac calls over his shoulder as he and Chris start walking away. "I'll beat you; badly, too!"

Frank, Oak, and the twins call back their farewells.

Zac sighs happily and looks down at his belt where the Pokeball containing his Squirtle is attached. (Sleep well, little guy...) "You know, Chris, a guy could really get used to living here."

"Living here, huh?" Chris replies slyly. "We haven't even been here a whole day."

"_Not_ the point," Zac says shortly. "I'm just saying... looking for a way home isn't going to be as bad as we thought it would be."

**Whew, that was a long one. Well... _pretty_ long. Did ya like it? Please review!**


	4. Playing Hero

Chapter 4- It's the Viridian Forest!

**Note: I changed Zac's last name to Merlo. Zac Merlo sounds better than Zac McDougall. :P**

"Wow... I can't believe it's almost nighttime already!" Chris says. "How could it possibly have come as a surprise?" Zac says angrily. "I feel like I've been walking for two days! No _shit_ it's getting dark by now!" Chris laughs. "Aren't _you_ bitchy?"

It was nearly 10A.M. when Zac and Chris left Frank and the others. It is now 5:45 P.M., and since it's January, nightfall is descending upon them already. The road to Viridian City has been quite long. It probably would not have been so long if they hadn't stopped several times to take breaks. They are just not used to traveling like this yet. They saw a lot of Pokemon, but they couldn't catch any; Squirtle and Bulbasaur were worn out from their first battle.

The events of that battle keep replaying in Zac's mind. Every time he thinks about it, shivers go down his spine. (Man, I can't _wait_ until my next battle! Squirtle and I... will be invincible! We'll be the best there is!) Suddenly, thoughts of home pop up in his mind. His teachers... his parents... even his neighbors... (They must all be so worried about me. But, I... I don't want to go home. I want to stay here... I want to become the best! If we ever DO find a way home... would I even take it?)

Zac is so lost in his thoughts, he doesn't notice the sign. "Viridian City Up Ahead."

"Yeah, we're almost there!" Chris exclaims happily. "Finally! It's already past 6:15!"

Zac suddenly snaps back to reality. "Oh, what, huh? We're... almost there? Great!"

About 15 minutes later, the city comes into view. They shout their joy, and they somehow scrape up enough energy to run the rest of the way. When they reach the city entrance, they stop for a minute to regain their breath, realizing running wasn't the best thing to do. After they are able to walk again, they walk into the city.

Even though it's nighttime, there are lots of people on the roads. They're all laughing, having a good time. Some are shopping, some are eating, and some are just hanging around. Zac and Chris search for a Pokemon Center. They find a sign pointing them in the right direction, and they finally make the first stop of their journey.

Inside the Center are big, comfy couches and chairs. Zac falls heavily into a very puffy armchair. He closes his eyes, grins, and gives a happy sigh. "Aaaaah, I've been waiting for this _all_ day. This is great!" He puts his feet up on a stool. Chris shakes his head. "Hey, we have to take care of our Pokemon, remember?"

So, Zac and Chris meet the first of many Nurse Joys they'll encounter in their adventures. After healing their Pokemon, they get a comfy little room in the back of the Center where traveling Trainers can crash for a night whenever needed. There are two wooden bunk beds. Zac practically flings himself onto the bottom bunk of one of the beds. "Don't get too comfortable," Chris says. "We have stuff to do still. We have to sell the Nuggets Oak gave us, then we have to buy some food." Zac grumbles at first, but then reluctantly gets up and says, "Yeah, I'm freakin' starving, let's go."

They go to the Pokemart and sell their two golden Nuggets to the wide-eyed sales clerk. They buy Pokemon-related supplies there, too, along with two big, sturdy backpacks to put it all in. They go to a food shop and buy food supplies there. They also go to one of those general stores that sell everything, like a Wal-Mart or something, and buy clothes and hygienic necessities. Then, they go to an inexpensive buffet and pig out.

Finally, after all that, the two boys walk back to the Center half asleep. They waste no time in getting to their rooms and falling asleep.

* * *

Morning comes. Zac sits up in bed, stretches with a huge yawn, and rubs his eyes so he can open them. He blinks and looks around- and freezes. In the middle of the room, fast asleep, are Squirtle and Bulbasaur. Zac, face frozen in shock, turns his head to look at Chris. (He must have let them out last night or something... he _must_ have!) He gets out of bed to go to the bathroom, trying not to wake anybody up. However, Squirtle yawns and gets up. He looks at Zac and smiles. Zac gives a wan smile back. Squirtle's movements have woken up Bulbasaur as well. "Bulba, bulbasaur." She walks over to Chris's bed and jumps up onto his sleeping form. Chris wakes up with a yell of surprise.

"Zac!" Chris exclaims angrily. "Why did you release them?" "What are you talking about?" Zac retorts. "_You_ are the one who released them some time last night!" "I did _not_!" "Well, you had to have done it because I _know_ I haven't taken them out since we first arrived here." "Same with me," Chris replies indignantly. "Don't go blaming stuff on other people." "Ha! And _you_ should be talking?" Suddenly, it hits them.

Their Pokemon got out on their own.

Zac sees Squirtle's empty Pokeball lying on the floor next to Zac's bed. He picks it up. "Squirtle... return." Before the beam of red light can come out to claim the Pokemon, Squirtle uses Bubble on Zac's hand. He drops it. "Ow, that kinda hurts..." Zac mumbles, rubbing his hand and giving Squirtle an injured look. Chris tries the same, but Bulbasaur tackles him to the ground and licks his face. "Okay, okay!" Chris laughs hysterically, his face being tickled. "I get the point!" He gets up. He and Zac look at each other, shake their heads, and sigh.

Zac and Chris make their way out of the Pokemon Center, Squirtle and Bulbasaur trailing along behind them. People reading the paper and sipping coffee stare at them. Zac is aware of the staring and goes slightly red. When they leave the building, he spins around to face the Pokemon. "So how about gettin' in the Balls, huh? You see how those people stared at us?" The two Pokemon just stare at him blankly. Chris shrugs and keeps walking. Squirtle and Bulbasaur walk past Zac and follow him. Zac jogs to catch up to them. "Hey, wait for me!"

They go back to that buffet and eat breakfast there. They look at their Pokemon who are eyeing the human food hungrily. Zac gives them each a pancake. Everyone loves pancakes. Chris looks at Zac. "We should get them some Pokemon food, huh?" "Yeah, that would be good," Zac agrees. They finish up their meal and head back to the Center to collect their things and move out.

When they walk past Nurse Joy, she giggles. "Hm? What's so funny?" Zac asks Nurse Joy. She points to their Pokemon. "Looks like you've got the Ash Ketchum syndrome." "Huh?" Chris says, confused. "Well, Ash is a world-famous Pokemon Master, and out of all his Pokemon, Pikachu is especially famous because ever since Ash owned him, he has almost never been in a Pokeball. It's rare, but when Trainers get Pokemon who do the same, it's commonly called the Ash Ketchum syndrome. It's funny because, well, you two are traveling together, right?" "Yeeeaaah..." Zac says. "Well, the fact that _both_ of your Pokemon have the Ash Ketchum syndrome is such a coincidence, it's funny," Nurse Joy explains with a big grin on her face. "I mean, while it's rare, a single Trainer with a Pokemon like that is not unheard of, but _two_ of them is. That's why people stare at you when you walk past!" She giggles again. Zac goes red again. "Well, uh, I'm glad to hear we're so special... I guess. Hey, listen, do you know where we can get Pokemon food?" "Oh, good timing! We just got a new shipment this morning..." She ducks behind the counter and brings out two boxes of Pokemon food labeled, "Brock's Perfect PokePellets – Brock's world-famous recipe... in a pellet!" There is a picture of the maker's smiling face on the front. Brock looks exactly the same as he did from the anime Zac and Chris used to watch... before they started living in it. "I always wondered..." Zac mutters to himself. "Are those eyes open, or-" "Let's go!" Chris declares, interrupting Zac's thoughts about Brock's eyes (which are perfectly understandable.) "Wait," Zac says. "These are free?" "Usually, no, but I will make a special case for you guys," Nurse Joy says, smiling warmly at them. "Thanks a lot!" Zac calls to her as Chris drags him to the door.

As they walk through the city, Chris pulls out the map they bought last night and looks at it. "Well, next is Viridian Forest, in case you didn't know..." "Yeah, that's gonna be a bitch," Zac groans. They walk past a large building. It's the 8th Gym, home of the Earth Badge. It seems to be closed, as usual. Zac and Chris stay silent as they walk by it. (Are we ever gonna make it that far?) Zac thinks to himself.

They reach the other side of the city. They go onto a road leaving Viridian City and heading towards Viridian Forest. It's about a half hour walk to the Forest. Soon, a small building comes into their sight, and behind it looms the big, dark Forest. As they approach it, they notice a Trainer battling a wild Ratatta. They stop for a sec and watch. The Trainer appears to be a young boy. His Weedle uses Poison Sting again, and the Trainer throws his Pokeball at it. The Pokemon goes into it in a flash of red light, and the ball starts to wiggle.

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle... The Ball stops shaking and glowing, and it emits a satisfying humming sound. The boy just caught a Ratatta. "WaHOOO!" he shouts, jumping for joy. He returns his Weedle and walks to the building with a big smile on his face.

"You know..." Zac says slowly, looking at Chris, "we need to do the same. We need to battle a few wild Pokemon. We can catch some, build up a little team for the Forest... Plus, Squirtle and Bulbasaur can get some training." Chris nods enthusiastically. "Okay!"

They walk around in the taller grass, looking around for Pokemon. A Pidgey hears them coming and starts to fly away. "That's mine!" Chris calls out. "Fine," Zac mumbles as Chris and Bulbasaur start chasing the Pidgey. "I want a different Flying type anyway."

Squirtle tugs Zac's leg and points to a Ratatta near a tree that's very close by. "All right, then," Zac says. "Squirtle, use Tackle!" The Ratatta looks up from its acorn and scurries up the tree. It looks down at its pursuers and gives an angry "Rrrrrrrratatta!" Zac growls. "Squirtle, Bubble attack!" Squirtle starts shooting bubbles at Ratatta. It jumps onto another branch, avoiding the attack. However, the Bubble attack _does_ hit something... It hits a Spearow's nest. It comes flying out of it with a very pissed-off look on its face. "Ah, here's my Flying type!" Zac declares happily. The Ratatta jumps off the tree and runs away. Zac takes no notice. "Speeeaaarow!" the bird Pokemon screeches. It dives down at Zac, taking him by surprise. It uses Peck on his head. "OOWWWW!" he cries out. "Squirtle, take care of this!" Squirtle looks at Spearow angrily. He uses Bubble. Spearow dodges and attempts a Peck on Squirtle as well. He dodges and before Spearow can go back into the air, he crushes it with a Tackle attack. Spearow starts to get up, but Squirtle uses Bubble. This time, the attack hits its intended target. Squirtle hits it with another Tackle. "Great job!" Zac says. He feels something in his eye and rubs it. He looks at his hand; it's blood trickling down his forehead from the Peck attack. He shakes his head. "I got it from here... Go, Pokeball!" He throws it rather hard at Spearow's head. The Pokemon goes into the Ball.

Zac's heart starts pounding as the Ball starts wiggling, even though he knows Squirtle did a perfect job weakening it. The Pokeball calms down and makes the telltale humming sound. "Yay!" Zac shouts excitedly. "Good job, Squirtle!" He picks up his new Spearow's Pokeball. He looks all around him, question marks popping up over his and Squirtle's heads as they look for Chris and Bulbasaur. They finally spot them. They are battling a Pidgey.

Zac sweat-drops. "Are you kidding? They're still fighting that thing?" His attention is diverted by another Ratatta. "Hey, Squirtle, let's catch this thing, too, okay?" Squirtle nods. He charges the Ratatta and attempts to hit it with Tackle, but the Ratatta dodges it and hits him with an attack so fast, Zac barely saw it happen. (Quick Attack!) he thinks to himself. (This Ratatta is a little advanced...) It uses Quick Attack again. Squirtle falls down. He winces as he gets up. Zac notices that its tail twitches every time it attacks. It twitches again. "Use Tail Whip... now!" It works. Squirtle stops the attack with Tail Whip. "Now, use Bubble, then Tackle!" Squirtle does so, hitting his opponent with everything he's got. "Go, Pokeball!"

It works. Zac catches a Ratatta. The grin on his face is huge. (This is easy! For now, anyway...)

At this point, Chris and Bulbasaur catch up with Zac and Squirtle. Chris has a Pokeball in his hand and a triumphant smile on his face. "What took you so long?" Zac says in an annoyed tone of voice. "Well, we made the first Pidgey "faint" by accident, and apparently that means you can't catch it. Then we accidentally did the same to a Ratatta. But we finally caught _this_ Pidgey! How about you?" Zac closes his eyes and grins an arrogant grin. "Heh, we got a Spearow _and_ a Ratatta on our first try!"

Chris frowns. "Whatever. Hey... what happened to you? You're bleeding!" "I'm fine," Zac says. "The Spearow I caught pecked me in the head. It'll stop bleeding soon." "All right," Chris sighs, not completely convinced he's okay. "Let's just go in the Forest now." "Fine by me," Zac agrees.

They enter the little rest house. There is a little Pokemon healing center (how convenient!) They put their Pokeballs on the healing-table-thingy and turn it on. When the machine indicates their Pokemon are at full health, they start to head out. "Hey, what about Squirtle and Bulbasaur?" Chris says suddenly. Zac looks at the Pokemon. "You guys tired out yet?" They both firmly shake their heads. Zac looks at Chris. "There you have it," he says in a matter-of-fact tone. Chris sighs and they walk to the entrance of the Forest.

However, they are stopped by a couple of guards with brown uniforms dragging a woman into the building. She is sobbing hysterically. "My son! He's lost... my son is in there! LET ME GO!" "Ma'am, please calm down!" a guard yells over her sobs. "We have Officer Jenny and three guards looking for him! It'll be fine!"

"An Officer Jenny and three guards?" Zac mumbles uncertainly. "I don't think that's enough people to search the entire Viridian Forest for a little boy..."

When the guards finally drag her out of the way of the doorway, Zac, Chris, and their Pokemon walk past them and into the Forest, looking at the sobbing mother sadly.

Chris puts his hands on his hips. "All right," he says with a big sigh. "Which way are we goin'?" Zac looks at the different trails leading into the Forest. "Let's go on the far right one." Chris nods and they begin their trip into the Forest.

* * *

It's been about 45 minutes. Zac has managed to catch a Weedle and Chris now owns a Caterpie. Whenever they meet other Bug types, they make short work of them with their bird Pokemon.

"This is driving me nuts!" Chris exclaims suddenly. "Do we have _any_ idea where we're going?" Zac simply shakes his head. "Nope." Chris looks at him angrily. "HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?" "What's the point of getting worked up?" Suddenly, they run into a young Trainer. She looks at them and smiles. "Hey, do either one of you want to battle me? I wanna test out my new Bug Pokemon!"

(Ugh,) Zac thinks to himself, (another Bug Catcher.) "Chris, you take this one." "Okay," Chris complies, taking a step forward. "You ready?" "You bet!" the girl says excitedly. "Go, Kakuna!"

As Chris battles the Bug Catcher, Zac sits down. He becomes lost in thought again. He thinks about the 8th Gym in Viridian City. (_Will_ I ever make it that far? I think I have the ability, but what if I'm held back? What if we find a way home? Knowing Chris, he would rather go home than stay here. What would I do then? Stay here by myself?) He shakes his head. (I don't belong here... I don't belong in the Pokemon World. What would people think of me if I got into the Pokemon League and they all found out about where I'm from? I might be _hated_ for it...)

So, as you can see, Zac likes to think about certain things all the time. If confronted with a somewhat troubling problem like this, he could go on thinking about it all day, not caring about what else is going on. It actually gets annoying for the people around him sometimes.

Chris brings him back to reality. "Hey, I won. I got some money... 80 zenny." (A/N- If I have the wrong currency, or if I have any Pokemon names misspelled, _please_ notify me in your reviews. Thanks!)

Zac stands up. "Cool. Let's go."

* * *

They actually end up searching for another hour. "Is the Forest that big, or are we just lost?" Chris moans. Zac's stomach growls. "I'm hungry," he states. "It's food time."

They sit down and have a nice lunch of chicken and rice. Squirtle and Bulbasaur eat some PokePellets. They clean up and continue their search for the exit.

After another half hour, Zac gets an idea. "Hey, I know! Let's use your Pidgey to fly over the Forest and look for the exit! It can guide us there!" "Okay," Chris agrees enthusiastically. He releases Pidgey. "Find an exit for us, Pidgey!" Pidgey nods and flies up above the trees. Soon enough, the group is following Pidgey to the exit.

(A/N- Yes, I know, "why did it take them about _two_ hours to realize this?" They're slow sometimes, okay:P)

Suddenly, they hear a scream. "What was that?" Chris says, startled. Zac sighs. "how much you wanna bet it's that kid who's lost?" Chris frowns in confusion. "Wha- Oh!_ That_ kid! Hey, I know; let's go help him!" Water starts flowing out of Zac's eyes. (A/N- I can't really call it "tears", I mean, they draw it like two rivers coming out of their eyes. :P) "But it took us _forever_ to get this far!"

Squirtle and Bulbasaur are already running in the direction they heard the scream. "Well, there you have it," Chris states happily, and he runs off with them. Zac just stands there. "I'll, uh, wait here. To make sure... we don't lose our way... or something..."

* * *

Chris, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur hear the scream again. "We're getting closer!" Chris pants. They crash through some more bushes... and find a little boy surrounded by Beedrill. Chris counts seven of them. One stings him. He screams again. He sees Chris and the Pokemon. "Help!" he cries out. Four of the Beedrill turn around and attack Squirtle and Bulbasaur. Squirtle uses Bubble on one, Bulbasaur uses Leech Seed on another, and they dodge the other two. Bulbasaur uses Leech Seed on another, and another. All three of them fall to the ground, stuck in the small vines that sprouted from the seeds. They glow and Bulbasaur glows; the plants are healing her. The other one attacks again. Chris's Pidgey comes out from the sky and intercepts with a Tackle. The other three come at them now. Chris's eyes go wide in fear.

A Spearow comes in and uses Peck a couple times on one. A Ratatta comes dashing in and uses Quick Attack on a few of them. Zac comes running in.

After a few minutes of battling, the only Beedrill that hasn't fainted runs away. However, the only remaining Pokemon on the other side is Bulbasaur because the Leech Seeds were keeping her alive. A Bug Catcher runs into the scene. "What the hell happened here!"

Zac looks at the Bug Catcher. "Hey, take this kid back to the rest house at the entrance, okay? His mother's looking for him." "All right," the Trainer says, awed. "What're your names?" Zac starts to walk away with his Squirtle in his arms. "Doesn't matter. We don't want recognition. Just get him to his mother." The boy suddenly calls out, "Thanks guys! I'll never forget you!"

* * *

Chris and Zac are able to find where they were before. They walk along the path. They see a door to another rest house. Beyond it lies open field. They go into the building and collapse onto very comfortable chairs. 

"It's... about time..." Zac pants. Chris gets up after a couple minutes. "Your Pokemon, please. I'll go heal them at the healing station." Zac puts Squirtle in his Pokeball and hand over his four Pokeballs to Chris. Chris puts those and his two Pokeballs on the station. After they are healed, Squirtle breaks out of the Pokeball again and looks at Zac angrily. "What?" Zac says innocently. "You needed to be healed." Squirtle uses Bubble on his face. "Ow!" The smile on Squirtle's face seems to say, "We're even now." Chris laughs at him. They all sit down, and after about 10 minutes, they fall asleep...

**Wow, another long one. Many thanks to Ephraim, my only reviewer so far. **

_Next Chapter: Pewter City at Last! 1st Gym Battle_


	5. 1st Gym Battle

Chapter 5- Pewter City at Last! 1st Gym Battle

"Um, excuse me? Excuse me? Are... you awake? Hello?"

Zac's eyes start twitching when the woman starts poking him, trying to wake him up. "Wha-what is it? Where am I?" He opens his eyes, looks around, and jumps to his feet. "Where is everyone? Are we the only ones in here?"

Zac, Chris, and their Pokémon fell asleep in the rest house at the end of the Viridian Forest. It is nighttime now, and they are the only ones in the rest house, except for this one lady waking them up.

"Yes," the lady says. "I think this place has been empty for some time now... It's past midnight!"

"Oh, JEEZ!" Zac exclaims. Chris and the Pokémon wake up. "What's going on?" Chris mumbles, rubbing his eyes. "It's past midnight, _that's_ what's going on!" Zac replies rather loudly. "Okay, okay, no need to shout," Chris says exasperatedly. "Let's just pick up our stuff and-" He suddenly stops talking. His mouth is hanging open and his eyes are extremely wide in shock.

"What's wrong?" Zac and the lady ask at the same time.

"O-our stuff..." Chris whispers. "It's... it's... it's..."

"GONE!" Zac screams. "Someone must have taken it!"

"Well, someone did run past me while I was walking here..." the lady says slowly. "That wasn't very long ago. If you start running to Pewter City now-" She stops talking, for they are already out the door.

* * *

"I... can't... believe... this is... _happening_... to us!" Zac pants as he and the others run as fast as they can to Pewter City. Zac is holding Squirtle because the poor little turtle can't keep up with everyone else. "Yeah... This is... some day... we're having," Chris agrees sarcastically.

They run for a little while more. Chris quickly starts to fall behind. He stops and doubles over, trying to regain breath. "Zac... keep going... I'll be-" He suddenly realizes that Zac never stopped in the first place. Bulbasaur is still with him though. "Hey..." Chris says, patting his Pokémon fondly on the head. "Thanks... for staying... to keep me company..."

* * *

(If fatso can't keep up,) Zac thinks as he's running, (I'll just go back to pick him up later.) "Gah! This is _insane_!" he suddenly cries out, startling Squirtle. "We'll _never_ catch up!" As he's running, he curses himself for not buying a Pokéball belt. His Pokémon are in his now-stolen bag. Suddenly, he hears a siren behind him. He looks over his shoulder without slowing down. It's a motorcycle. It catches up to him. He still doesn't stop running, so the driver just rides along beside him. It's an Officer Jenny.

"Hey," she yells over the siren. "Is it your bag that was stolen?" "Yes!" Zac yells back. "Who sent you?" "The woman who woke you up," she replies. "Hop on!" He does so, and they speed off into the night.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Zac yells. "Did you pass a fat kid?" "Hey, that's mean!" Officer Jenny yells back over her shoulder. "Isn't he your friend?" "Yeah, but it doesn't take away the fact he's fat." Officer Jenny thinks about that for a second. (...Well, I guess you can't argue with that logic.) "Anyway," Zac yells, "did you pass him?" "Yeah. I asked him if he wanted to come with me, and he told me to catch up to you and give you a ride. He'll be waiting." Zac nods. (Good. It's _really_ dark out here... I hope he'll be okay.)

* * *

The police scanner suddenly kicks on. Its owner wakes up. He listens with a frown.

"We have a potential thief headed north on Route 2 from Viridian Forest to Pewter City. Two young Trainers are missing their belongings. A woman saw a mysterious man run past, wearing all black. I repeat, suspect is headed toward Pewter City and-" He turns the scanner off. "Interesting," he mumbles to himself. He picks up a Pokéball, throws on his brown trench coat, and leaves the building.

He walks to a back road very rarely used by the public. It runs through most of the city. He waits there for a while. Then, he suddenly hears someone running towards him. There is no light here, so it is way too dark to see who it is. The man sighs and gets up, walking calming to intercept the incoming person. (Gotta make sure it's who I'm looking for...) "Stop!" he bellows. "Who are you?"

"Get out of the way!" the running man says gruffly. He pulls out a knife. The trench coat man's eyes widen. "I see..." He jumps out of the way to avoid the knife. The mysterious man keeps on running. (Yep, that's the thief, alright...) "GO, ONIX!"

He throws the Pokéball hard so it lands in front of the running thief. His Onix comes out directly in front of the fleeing criminal. It works. The thief yells out in fear as Onix roars at him and blocks his way. He turns and starts to run the other way, but Onix's owner is blocking that way, too.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?"

* * *

"That's the place!" Officer Jenny calls over her shoulder. "Directly ahead of us is Pewter City!"

Zac can see the lights of the city. There aren't many since it's so late, but it's still obvious.

"Good!" Zac responds. "Let's get that thief!"

The motorcycle roars into town, siren blaring. They keep going down the main road, a few passersby watching them and wondering what's going on.

After a little while, they reach a large group of people blocking the road. They are all standing in a circle and cheering at whatever is in the middle of the circle. Some people in the crowd notice Zac and Officer Jenny running towards them and make a path accordingly.

There are two men in the middle. One has black hair, dark skin, and really small eyes. He's wearing a brown trench coat and blue jeans. He's standing next to a man dressed in all black. His hands are tied up and he seems very dazed and confused. His face is bleeding in a few different spots, mostly from the nose. It looks like he got beat up- bad.

What's laying next to them is what catches Zac's interest. His eyes go very wide. There are three all-too-familiar bags there; two big backpacks and one _really_ large carrying bag.

"Our stuff!" he exclaims. He runs over to the bags. He quickly goes through his and takes out three occupied Pokéballs. "Thank God..." he mutters.

Officer Jenny walks over to the man in the brown trench coat. She smiles warmly as she shakes his hand. "Thanks, Brock," she says gratefully. "You've done it again. Great job!" "No problem," Brock replies happily. "Now... WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?" Jenny ignores him.

Zac looks up at Brock. "Really? _The_ Brock? Awesome! Thanks so much!" Jenny gets the thief off his feet and basically drags him out of the crowd. Zac glares at him. "Loser!" he shouts. Brock and the crowd laugh.

After a little while, the crowd disperses. Another Officer Jenny takes a motorcycle out to go retrieve Chris. Brock sighs as she rides away. "Isn't she beautiful?" he says to no one in particular. Zac laughs. Brock looks at him. "So, kid, what brings you here?"

"Well," Zac replies, "I'm actually here to challenge you." Brock smiles. "I thought so. Oh, and uh... your name?" "I'm Zac Merlo, nice to meet you." They start walking to Brock's Gym.

After they talk a little while, Zac looks at him. "Hey, do you know a place where me and my friend can sleep?" Now that the adrenaline rush has worn off, Zac realizes he is very tired.

"Well, you could crash at my place." "Really?" Zac says excitedly. "That is _so_ cool!" Brock smiles. "So I guess you accept the invitation?" "Uh... well... YES!" Zac says with a big grin. "Good," Brock replies. He takes out a cell phone. "I'll call Officer Jenny to tell her where to drop your friend off."

* * *

When Zac wakes up, he sees that Chris is asleep in the bed across the room. Squirtle and Bulbasaur are still fast asleep. He gets up and stretches. He looks out the window. It's a beautiful day.

(Well, today is the big day! The day I finally have my first Gym battle!) He looks at Squirtle and Bulbasaur. (It should be easy for both me and Chris. Squirtle knows Bubble, and Bulbasaur knows Vine Whip. Those moves alone should be enough to finish off Brock's Pokémon.) He smells something very good. (Breakfast!)

He runs out of his room and goes upstairs to the kitchen. Brock is cooking and two of his sisters are helping. All his other siblings and his father are sitting at the table talking loudly and anticipating another great breakfast. French toast, pancakes, bacon, eggs, taylor ham, home-style potatos, omelets, various kinds of tofu... he has it all. Zac is in heaven.

By the time breakfast is done, Chris and the Pokémon are waiting along with Zac and Brock's family. After Brock officially introduces the guests to his family, they start eating.

"This is great!" Zac says through a very thick mouthful of a taylor ham, bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. He swallows. "Truly the best artery-clogging meal I've ever had! Thanks so much, Brock!" Chris agrees, although he doesn't say so while there is omelet is in his mouth.

"So, Brock," says Zac in a conversational tone. "I didn't know you were a crime fighter." "Crime fighter?" Brock chuckles. "I don't think so. I just help take out the trash sometimes, you know? It's my way of contributing to the community, I guess." Zac laughs with a very full mouth. Chris glares at him. "Wow," Zac says after choking down his food, "that's one hell of a way to do community service." "Yeah, I guess so," Brock agrees with a smile. He takes a bite out of his tofu. "So... tell us about yourselves. Where are you from?"

Zac and Chris exchange worried glances. (Should we tell them?) Zac ponders. Chris very subtly shakes his head. Zac looks at Brock. "We're from, uh, Pallet Town. Professor Oak gave us these two." He points to the two Pokémon eating PokéPellets on the floor. "Cool!" Brock says. Then he shakes his head. "Professor Oak's Pokémon seem to have a problem with being in Pokéballs, don't they? Ash's Pikachu was given to him by Oak, and he _never_ goes in his Ball." Zac puts his arms behind his head and chuckles with a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I guess so. Oak's a really nice guy, though."

After they all finish eating and cleaning up, Zac and Chris go to their room to prepare for their first Gym battle. They don't have much to do to prepare. When they're done, they sit down and stay silent for a while. Zac heaves a big sigh. "Well, are you ready for this, Chris?"

"Y-yeah, I guess," is the nervous response.

Zac keeps himself from grinning. (He's scared out of his wits! Well, I'm pretty nervous, too, but thank God I'm not _that_ nervous.)

They get up and leave without another word, Pokémon trailing along behind them. They go upstairs. They walk down the main hall...

And they enter the Gym's Pokémon arena.

The place is obviously Rock type-oriented. The field itself is made of rock, and boulders, big and small, are scattered all around it. Brock's entire family has come to watch the two matches. The first match will be Chris vs. Brock, and then Zac vs. Brock.

They wait for a few minutes. These few minutes feel like a few eternities. Then, Brock slowly walks onto the field, his trench coat on.

"Are you ready? Who's first?"

Chris gulps and steps forward. His hands are slightly trembling. (He was like this in his first battle, too,) Zac notes dryly. (I hope he won't be like this for _every_ important battle he has.)

Brock grins. "Very good. I'll explain the rules. It's very simple. Since you two are beginners, you will each be allowed to use all your Pokémon against my two Pokémon. Okay? Now, to business." He grabs his trench coat and literally throws it off, revealing the same clothing Zac remembers from the anime. (A/N- I'm talking about his old outfit, not his outfit in Hoenn. Yeah.)

Apparently, this action marks the beginning of the battle, for the referee calls out, "Start the battle!" as soon as the trench coat hits the floor.

Zac's face splits into a wide grin. (Let's see how Chris does under pressure.)

**I think my chapters have been too long, so I am going to stop here. I was going to have the battle in the same chapter, but I am going to put it in a separate chapter instead. Hope you like it so far!**

_Next Chapter: Fighting for the Boulderbadge! The Problem with Rock-types_


	6. Fight for the Boulderbadge!

Chapter 6- Fight for the Boulderbadge! The Problem with Rock-Types

"All right, who's first?" Brock asks.

Chris steps forward, swallowing hard. (I can do this... I can do this... no need to be nervous.)

Brock explains the rules. "Since you two are beginners, you can use all of your Pokémon against my two Pokémon. We're both allowed to switch out. Now, to business." He throws off his brown trench coat, signifying the start of the battle.

Chris can't help but look over his shoulder to look at Zac. He's grinning. (What the _fuck_ is he smiling for?) Brock interrupts his thoughts by releasing his Pokémon, Geodude.

"Geo, geodude," it says.

(Well, my only real choice here is Bulbasaur. She's my only Pokémon that actually stands a chance!) "Bulbasaur, go!" Bulbasaur runs onto the arena scowling. "Bulba, bulbasaur!" she says.

Brock smiles. "Geodude, Tackle!" "Dodge and use Vine Whip!" Chris cries in response. Bulbasaur carries out both commands perfectly. Geodude has already taken a large amount of damage.

"Hang in there, Geodude! Use Rock Tomb!" Geodude hits the ground hard with both fists. The ground around Bulbasaur starts shaking. Her eyes go wide. "Bulba-!" Rock juts out of the ground all around her and closes her in, crushing her. "BULBASAUR!" she cries out in pain. The rock crumbles away, leaving Bulbasaur cut up and bleeding. She's out of breath. She turns to look at Chris, nodding her head.

Chris grins. "Good. GO! USE VINE WHIP!" Geodude dodges it and comes in to go for another Tackle. Bulbasaur jumps into the air to avoid it. "Now! Slam Geodude into the ground with Vine Whip!" It works. She hits her opponent so hard with her vines, the ground under Geodude actually caves in slightly. Brock's facial expression is that of shock. (Th-that's amazing! I've never seen such a strong Bulbasaur, especially at such a low level!)

"Geodude is unable to battle! Bulbasaur wins!"

Brock shakes his head and gives a grim smile. "That was great, Chris. Return, Geodude." He returns his Pokémon and takes out a second Pokéball. "Now, let's see you do the same to THIS one! Go, Onix!" When Onix comes out, it roars at its opponents and glares at them. Chris and Bulbasaur both quiver in fear.

Chris's face goes serious again. "Let's go, Bulbasaur. Start with a Leech Seed." "No! Onix, use Rock Throw to block the seed!"

Bulbasaur shoots a seed out of the plant on her back at Onix. Onix uses its huge tail to scoop up some big rocks and it throws them at Bulbasaur, effectively knocking the seed away. "Bulbasaur, dodge!" Bulbasaur gets out of the rocks' way just in time. However, Onix is already following up with a Tackle. It sends Bulbasaur flying back really far... right at Chris.

"Hey,hey,HEY! AAAH!" Chris cries out. He catches Bulbasaur and falls on his ass. Zac's eyes pop out of his head. (WOW! That knocked down even _Chris_! That's amazing...)

Bulbasaur jumps out of her Trainer's arms and back into the arena. Brock smiles. "Good. Onix, use Tackle!" Bulbasaur easily dodges... but that's what Brock was planning. Onix quickly turns so its tail is very close to Bulbasaur. "Use Bind!" It wraps its tail around the poor Pokémon and squeezes. Once again, Bulbasaur is getting crushed. "B-b-b-bu-bulba...!" she manages to choke out. "Now, Onix, fling her away and use Rock Throw!" Bulbasaur goes flying again and Onix's Rock Throw is quickly catching up. She is able to hit the rocks with Vine Whip, causing them to break or go off course. She lands on all fours, then collapses.

"NO!" Chris cries. "Bulbasaur!"

Suddenly, small green vines sprout on Onix's body and wrap around it. Onix starts glowing, and then Bulbasaur does, too. Bulbasaur slowly gets up.

Comprehension dawns on Brock's face. (Ah! She must have launched the seed right after Onix threw her! All on her own, too... _That_ is what separates _great_ Pokémon from just _good_ Pokémon.)

Onix glares at Bulbasaur. She just grins. "Great job, Bulbasaur!" Chris yells happily. "Now, use Vine Whip!" For the first time, Onix is the one that looks scared. He roars in fear right before getting hit right in the face by a Vine Whip. Onix falls to the ground, eyes replaced by swirls. Bulbasaur has knocked her opponent out.

"Onix is unable to battle. Bulbasaur wins! The winner of the Pewter Gym match is Chris from Pallet Town!"

Zac winces when he hears "Pallet Town", but he cheers nonetheless. Bulbasaur gives a weak grin. Chris picks her up. She winces in pain and closes her eyes.

Brock grins as he returns Onix. "Great job, Chris! Here is your Boulderbadge. That was truly a great match!" Chris takes the badge with a huge grin.

Zac pats him on the back. "Congrats, man, but if you do that gay victory shit Ash does when he gets a badge, I'll freakin' kill-" "How do you know about that?" Brock interrupts curiously.

Chris sweat-drops. "Uuuh... TV! Yeah, there was this... documentary, and it showed him doing it! Yeah!"

Brock rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Huh. Documentary, eh? I'll have to check it out."

Chris grins sheepishly and rubs the back of his head. "Um, uh heh heh. Yeah, you'd like it."

Brock smiles. "Come on, let's go to the Pokémon Center. Then we can get on with our battle, Zac!"

Zac nods happily and grins an arrogant grin. "Fine by me. Let's go!"

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, everyone is back in the Pewter Gym arena.

Chris and Bulbasaur look a lot more relaxed now that their battle is over with. Chris is admiring his shiny new Badge. Bulbasaur is smiling up at her happy Trainer. Zac's smile is grim. (Wish I could be happy like them... Well, very soon, I'll be joinin' them! In record time, probably, too!) And with that thought firmly placed in his mind, he and Squirtle step forward.

"Let's go," Zac says.

Brock grins. "Heh." He throws off his trench coat like he did before his match against Chris.

"Brock of the Pewter Gym vs. Zac from Pallet Town! Match, start!" the ref calls.

Brock throws his Pokéball. Geodude comes out once again. "Geo, geodude!" it says. It looks determined not to lose again. Zac looks down and smiles. "Well, here it goes... GO, SPEAROW!"

Everyone gasps: the crowd (or, actually, Brock's family), Brock, Chris, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, the ref, and even Spearow. It squawks in fright when it sees Geodude and looks back at Zac with a "What the hell are you trying to do, get me killed?" expression on its face.

Brock doesn't question, or even wonder at, Zac's motives. He simply starts giving commands. "Geodude, charge in and use Tackle!" "Dodge, Spearow!" Spearow takes flight. Spearow cocks one eye towards the floating rock that's determined to kick its ass. "Use Peck!" Spearow sweat-drops, but charges in anyway. It hits Geodude with its beak. It freezes in that position. Its eyes start tearing. Then, after a few seconds, it jumps away from Geodude, crying out in pain and tenderly holding its beak with its wings. Some of the younger members of Brock's family laugh and point at Spearow. This gets the bird angry. It Pecks Geodude over and over and over again. Geodude closes its eyes in pain and tries to fend off the annoying bird with its short arms. Zac raises his eyebrows. (This... is the most ridiculous battle I've ever seen...) At this point, Chris and Bulbasaur are rolling on the floor laughing with tears in their eyes.

Brock is trying his hardest to keep from laughing. "G-Geodude," he stutters from his effort, "use T-Tackle!" Everyone stops laughing when the battle picks up again. Spearow is hit pretty hard and falls to the floor. "Geodude, use Rock T-" "Spearow, return." Brock stops in mid-sentence and just stares at Zac as he returns his Spearow. Geodude quickly stops its attack. "Now, Squirtle, care to finish this for me?" Squirtle grins and nods. He charges in.

"Use Bubble!" Zac cries. Geodude is hit and badly hurt. It is obviously angry as it realizes the trun out of this battle is going to be very similar to the one against Bulbasaur. "Geodude, use Rock Tomb!" "Quick, roll!" Squirtle rolls right when the rocks come up and close in on the spot he was standing just a second ago. "Finish it, Squirtle!" He uses Bubble again. Geodude falls down, eyes replaced with swirls.

"Geodude is no longer able to battle. Squirtle wins!"

"Good job," Zac smiles. "Come back for now." Question marks pop up over Squirtle's head, but he obeys. He walks back to his Trainer's side.

"Go, Onix!" Brock yells. Onix comes out once again with a mighty roar. Zac takes out another Pokéball.

"Good luck, my friend... GO, WEEDLE!" Everyone in the gym (except Zac) fall down anime-style.

Brock gets up and shrugs. "Everyone has different tactics, and I respect that." (This kid is smart. He's starting out the battles with his weak Pokémon so they can grow stronger quicker. Very smart! However, I'm not gonna give him a break for being intelligent...) "Onix, use Rock Throw!"

Weedle freaks out and runs in random directions, somehow avoiding all the rocks. "Great job!" Zac grins. "Now use String Shot!' Weedle looks like it would rather do _anything_ else but use String Shot on this Onix. It obeys its Trainer's orders, though. It starts to wrap Onix's large body with the strong silk that makes up the String Shot, but with a roar, Onix breaks it before it starts to take effect. Weedle jumps up into the air and squeals in fright. Brock laughs. "Onix, use Bind on the poor thing." It tries to wrap its tail around the worm, but Weedle frantically scrambles over its tail. "Ha!" Zac says triumphantly, as if he just won the battle. "Weedle is too small and quick to get caught by Bind! Use Poison Sting now!" Onix sweat-drops as its opponent tries to sting it. Of course, Onix didn't feel a _thing_. It hits the worm with Tackle. Weedle is still up, barely. Onix rushes in with another Tackle attack... and that's when it happens.

Zac and Chris witness their first Pokémon evolution.

Weedle starts to glow, and in a beautiful show of white light, it starts to grow bigger. Weedle's silhouette completely changes shape. When the light clears, a Kakuna is standing where Weedle was a few moments ago.

Onix Tackles it anyway. Kakuna, with a much higher HP level now, survives the attack... once again, barely. Zac smiles. "Return, Kakuna. Great job." Zac sighs happily. (That was among the most beautiful things I have ever seen...) He looks at Chris, who is just standing there in awe. Zac turns his gaze to Squirtle. "Let's finish this, buddy." "Squirtle!" the turtle says happily and enters the battlefield.

"Onix, use Rock Throw!' Squirtle dodges the rocks with some difficulty and counters with a Bubble attack. Onix roars as the Water attack hits it.

"Onix, use Tackle!" Squirtle runs out of the way. Onix turns its head around to look at the Squirtle it just flew past. It brings its tail around and swings it hard at the turtle. Squirtle yelps in alarm and jumps up to avoid the huge stone tail. Onix then roars triumphantly and smacks Squirtle back to the ground with its tail. He hits the rock floor hard. "Great, Onix, now use Bind!" Onix gets up and wraps its tail around Squirtle. He struggles, but it's no use.

"Sorry I have to do this, Zac!" Brock calls across the battlefield. "But I don't plan on losing twice on the same day!" He clears his throat. "Onix, use Crush!" "Crush?" Zac mumbles to himself. "What the fuck-?"

Onix brings its head high up into the air, lets go of Squirtle, and before he can run, Onix crushes him into the ground with its head.

"SQUIRTLE!" Zac cries. He glares at Brock. "What cheap-ass move was _that_? I've never even heard of it!"

Brock raises an eyebrow. "Uh, you've never heard of OMs before?" (A/N – Pronounced as two separate letters (oh – emms).) Zac shakes his head. "Well," says Brock slowly, not understanding why Zac doesn't know, "it stands for Original Move. About a year ago, a new Pokémon battling law was passed. Any Trainer can make up their own Pokémon move and have it patented. However, you have to list _every single_ Pokémon that can use it. _Every single one_."

"That's it?" Zac scoffs. "No big deal."

Brock laughs. "No, it's very hard. Think about it! There are nearly 400 Pokémon in the world-"

"What?" Chris exclaims. "I thought there were just 150! Or 151, if you include Mew..."

Brock shakes his head. "You two aren't from Pallet, are you?"

Zac growls. "We'll tell you everything after this battle. Let's go!"

The time they took talking allowed Squirtle to recover from the heavy blow. He's beaten up pretty bad, but he has a determined look on his face.

"Very well, then. Onix use Rock Throw!" Squirtle is barely able to dodge the rocks, but he is unable to avoid Onix when it uses Bind again.

"This is it! Onix, use Crush!"

Onix raises its head. It starts flying down toward Squirtle...

Squirtle shoots a steady stream of water out of his mouth at Onix's face. Onix howls in pain and throws its head back. Squirtle just learned another move in the middle of battle: Water Gun.

Brock gasps. (No! It's all over now...) Zac cheers. "Yeah, Squirtle! You show 'em! You're the best! Now, finish with another Water Gun!"

The stream of water hits Onix right in the middle of its huge body. It roars one last time before collapsing to the ground. Its eyes turn into swirls.

"Onix is no longer able to battle! Squirtle wins! The winner of the Pewter Gym match is Zac from Pallet!"

Zac gives a grim smile. "No, not from Pallet, but... I won!" He and Squirtle cheer happily. Squirtle suddenly gets dizzy. He falls down on his butt, looking dazed. Brock returns Onix and smiles. "Your Squirtle is worn out. It did such a great job. Congratulations! Looks like I'm gonna have to give another Badge today..." He reaches into one of his pockets and takes out a shiny Boulderbadge. Zac takes it with glee. Everyone cheers, even Brock's family. Brock smiles again and pats Zac on the back. "Good job. Now, why don't I go make some lunch and you two can tell me all about where you're from." Zac sighs. "Okay, we'll tell you."

* * *

Brock shakes his head. "I don't get it."

Zac shrugs. "Well, just know we're from a different world." "Actually, more like a different universe," Chris points put. "Whatever," Zac says dismissively.

Brock stares at them for a couple seconds, then gets up and starts clearing the table. Zac, wanting to change the subject, pats his stomach and smiles. "That was a great lunch, Brock. Thanks a lot!" "No problem," Brock replies.

"You want us to help you with the dishes?" Chris asks politely. "No, thanks," Brock replies. "I'm sure you guys wanna be on your way now... Not too far from here is Mt. Moon. It'll take you the rest of the day to get there. Go well prepared. The Route between Pewter City and Mt. Moon is a very popular place for Trainers to hang around and battle. Don't ask me why; that's just the way it is. There'll be a Pokémon Center right before Mt. Moon, so you can crash there before you go in." Zac smiles. "Yay! Another night we can avoid setting up camp to sleep!" Brock chuckles. "Trust me, you'll be doing a lot of that soon enough."

They're all quiet for awhile as Brock cleans the dishes. "So, uh, I guess we'll go now..." Zac says. Brock nods. "It was nice meeting you two. You are two of the toughest Trainers I've ever faced here at the Gym, and I really mean that." Chris grins. "Thanks. Well, see you later..."

As Zac, Chris, and their Pokémon leave the Gym, Brock and his whole family come out to say goodbye one last time. "BYE!" all the kids yell. Brock smiles and waves. When the new Trainers go out of eyeshot, they all go back in the Gym. Brock goes downstairs and sits in an armchair in the living room. He sits there for a good while, lost in thought. He frowns. (How can they be from a different world? They said Oak would try to find out more for them... I wonder if Oak has found out anything yet? Well, only one way to find out...)

With a grunt, Brock gets up from the chair and walks to the video-phone to give Oak a call and see if he can find out more about this mysterious "Real World"...

**Sorry it took me a long time to update. I have also been working on a One Piece romance fic. Yes, romance. That's very unlike me, but I _love_ One Piece, and well, my romance fic seems to be a lot more popular than this... Well, anyway, please keep reviewin'! I live for getting reviews. I _LIVE_ for it! Yeah...**


	7. A New Companion!

Chapter 7 – Too Young To Be A Trainer? A New Companion!

"Is that all, sir?"

"Yeah, I think that'll be enough for the trip to Cerulean City. What do you think, Chris?"

Chris nods. "Probably, yeah."

The clerk rings up the items. "That'll be 60,000 zenny." Zac gives a low whistle. "Wow, that's a chunk out of our budget... Whatever! We'll just win it all back, and then some, by beatin' the shit out of every Trainer we can on the road to Mt. Moon!" Chris shook his head. "Remember, we can't go crazy there. We'll use up all our healing items and stuff by the time we reach Mt. Moon... Brock said there will be a Pokémon Center there, but he didn't say anything about a Mart..."

"Yeah, yeah," says Zac, waving it off. "Look how much I care. Oh, wait... I _don't_!" They take their merchandise and leave the Mart. Chris sighs. "You are truly hopeless, Zac... Carefree is one thing; freakin' completely reckless to the point of endangering our lives is another!" "Endangering our lives?" Zac snickers. "I don't think so, dough boy. You're overreactin' a bit." Chris sighs again. "You're gonna get us killed one day... you freak."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" Zac chases Chris down the road. Chris sprints as fast as he can with tears in his eyes, Zac right behind him growling angrily. Squirtle and Bulbasaur keep up with them while laughing. People stare at them as the pass.

Zac hits Chris on the head. They stop running and continue on at a normal pace. Chris rubs his head. "Ow. Why did you have to hit so hard?" Zac pushes up his right sleeve and flexes his arm dangerously. "You wanna know what getting hit hard _really_ feels like?" "Uh, heh heh, no thanks."

They reach the gate leading out of Pewter City. A sign tells them the Route they're about to follow will lead them to Mt. Moon. Zac takes a deep breath and releases it. "You ready, guys?" Chris and the Pokémon nod, and they all walk out of Pewter.

There are fences around the paths on the Route to Mt. Moon. The group reaches a corner. They can't see what's beyond the corner because of a fence there. As soon as they turn the corner, something very fast collides into Zac... hard.

Zac yells out in pain as he and the kid who just ran into him go flying and hit the ground. Chris and the Pokémon whirl around and run to Zac and the kid.

"Are you two all right?" Chris asks uncertainly. A Pikachu also comes running around the corner. It sees the kid on the ground and stops dead in its tracks. It cocks its head curiously as it looks at the kid's face.

"Pika?"

Zac slowly gets up, rubbing his head. "Ow, the ground sure is a painful thing to hit your head on..." He looks down at the kid. He has curly blond hair, a blue puffy jacket, and blue jeans. His eyes are still closed.

Chris raises an eyebrow. "Do you think he's o-"

He's interrupted by the boy suddenly opening his hazel eyes and yelling incoherently. He springs up and looks around him. Then he looks at Zac. He freezes and stares. Pikachu looks at Squirtle and does the same.

"Do I know you?" Zac asks in an annoyed tone of voice. (Wait... he seems familiar...) "No, really, do I know you?" he repeats in a truly curious tone of voice.

"Uhh... Hi! I'm Andrew, and I'm 6 years old!"

"Andrew...?" Zac says slowly. He suddenly remembers. "Oh, Andrew! Andrew Homlish! Chris, this kid lives down the street from me! Or least, he did when we were still in the reality..." Chris chuckles. "Hee hee... Homlish. That sounds like a breakfast food of some sort."

"Breakfast?" Andrew says, confused. "No thanks. I would love some chicken nuggets, though." Zac looks at him like he's weird... which he is. "Uh, Andrew, do you remember who _I _am?" Andrew grins. "You must be the ice cream man!" Zac shakes his head. "No. I'm Zac."

Andrew positively squeals with delight. "Oh, Zac!" He runs up and hugs him. He only just reaches Zac's chest. He is only six, after all. Zac gently pushes him off. "Andrew, please... Someone might see that and think strange things." "Ooookay," Andrew says happily and lets go.

The Pikachu is still staring at Squirtle. Squirtle waves a very small arm right in front of Pikachu's face. It doesn't respond; it just keeps staring in the same spot Squirtle was standing just a few seconds ago. Squirtle gives Zac a confused look. Zac shrugs in response.

"So, uh, Andrew, two questions: how did you get here, and is that Pikachu yours?"

"Well, I _think_ this Pikachu is mine," Andrew responds thoughtfully. "I went into this really big forest, with lots of trees and stuff, and this Pikachu just started followin' me. And I dunno how I got here. Everything was all swirly, then all black, then all... cartoony."

"Same with us," says Chris. "What town were you teleported to?" "That one," Andrew answers, pointing behind him toward Pewter City.

"Okay, that's great," says Zac. "Now, why the hell did you run into me?" Andrew shrugs. "I really like running. Ridiculously fast is the best kind of running, too!" Everyone (except Pikachu) falls down anime-style.

"I fought Brock," Andrew says out of the blue. Chris raises an eyebrow. "Aren't you a bit young?" "That's what he told me, but I didn't shut up until he let me battle him." Andrew giggles. "Anyway... I lost. The ref said it was 45 seconds. Is that fast?"

Everyone except Pikachu falls down anime-style again.

"He told me to get a Mankey or something like that." Zac raises his eyebrows. "Did he, now? Why would he want to help you?" Andrew shrugs. "Beats me. Ooh, I know! Why don't you guys help me catch a Mankey? Brock said I can get one in that big forest with lots of trees and stuff."

Zac sighs. "It's called the Viridian Forest, and just so you know, _all_ forests have lots of trees. At least, all _healthy_ forest have lots of trees. Anyway, that's beside point." He looks at Chris. "You wanna help him?" "It's up to you," Chris sighs. (Like he cares about my opinion, anyway...)

Zac grins. "All right, let's go!"

Andrew cheers happily. Pikachu snaps out of its reverie and cheers along with its Trainer.

* * *

_TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER…_

"Hey, I think I found one!" Zac yells excitedly.

"G-g-good," Chris says through chattering teeth. "I'm s-s-so c-c-cold."

"Oh, get over it," says Zac. Although, he has to admit it IS pretty damn cold. It is near the end of January, and the wind is blowing pretty hard. Andrew, however, seems completely unfazed by the brutal weather. He suddenly appears at Zac's side. He was completely out of sight just a second ago.

"Where did you-! How did you-! ... Never mind." Zac points up to a nearby tree. "I saw one moving around in the branches up there."

Andrew rubs his chin thoughtfully, nods in understanding, and throws a rock at the branches.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Zac yells. "Mankey are easy to piss off! It's gonna attack us now! _Viciously_ attack us!"

Nothing happens.

Andrew picks up a handful of rocks and throws them at the branches.

_This_ time something happens. The Mankey Zac spotted a few minutes ago jumps out of the tree, yelling incoherently. It lands on Squirtle, pinning him to the ground. The Mankey then proceeds to punch Squirtle in the face over and over again.

"Here's my chance!" Andrew says excitedly as Zac watches in utter horror. "Pikachu, go do something that'll cause pain to the Mankey!"

Pikachu nods. Zac screams. "NO! Don't do it! My Squir-"

It's too late. "Piiii-kaaa-CHUUU!" The electric mouse uses Thundershock on the Mankey... and Squirtle.

Mankey stops pummeling the now-charred Squirtle and turns its head to glare angrily at Pikachu. The little mouse glares right back and snarls at the savage monkey thing. Chris raises an eyebrow. (Cheeky little thing. Now it's gonna get its ass kicked. I can't let that happen; it's just too damn _cute_!) "Go, Pidgey!" Chris throws the Pokéball and his Pidgey comes out. "See that Mankey? Use Gust on it!"

It is lucky coincidence that Pikachu decides to use Thundershock at the same time. The Gust, which is super effective against Mankey, and the Thundershock are enough to finish Mankey. Mankey still hasn't "fainted" though.

Andrew runs up to it really close, drops an empty Pokéball on its head, and runs away from it as the Ball opens up and captures it.

Zac looks at Andrew questioningly. "Um, two things: one, where the hell did you get Pokéballs, and two, why the hell did you catch it like that?"

"Brock gave me 5 Pokéballs, and I can't throw very well. I did not want to miss."

Chris returns his Pidgey with a "Good job" and shakes his head. "You are one weird kid."

"Yeah, but I have a Mankey now! Now I'm gonna go beat Brock for sure!" He starts marching away. Zac grabs him by the back of his shirt and pulls him back.

"Not yet. You gotta bring it to a Center, then train it. It needs to learn at least one Fighting-type move before you challenge Brock again. I think the first Fighting thing it learns is... Low Kick. I'll help you train."

"Yay! Let's go to McDonalds now!" Andrew cries cheerfully. "Um, there are no McDonalds places here..." Zac says slowly.

* * *

Andrew takes his Mankey to the Pewter Pokémon Center. Zac's Squirtle accompanies Mankey for treatment.

After they do that, they leave Pewter City and walk to an open area where they can train.

"Okay, Andrew, are you ready?" says Zac, afraid of what he is subjecting himself to. "Release your Mankey. No, Mankey is not in that rock. N-no, he's definitely not in that orange... There you go! Now, push the little button on the front to bring it to its full size. No, there's no button the top of it. I said the fr- No! Slamming it on the ground isn't gonna- STEPPING ON IT ISN'T HELPING EITHER! Good, you pressed the button. It's big now, see? Now throw it to release it. ... Are you _kidding_ me? You threw an _empty_ one? Grrr... now pick it up and put it back in your bag. Good. Now take out the Ball with the _Mankey_ in it. Are you sure that's the one? Good. Now push the button and throw it. ... Okay, Andrew, I'm not even gonna _ask_ how you got my Spearow's Ball. Return my Spearow by pressing the button. Good. Now GIVE IT BACK!"

So, yeah. Andrew is not a quick learner.

They struggle on through the basics. Eventually, they have a decent battle going on between Kakuna and Mankey. Kakuna defeated it the first three times, but Mankey was brought back with Potions each time and he kept coming for more. The fourth time, it got used to Kakuna'a fighting style and it defeated the Bug.

"Good! Chris, come here. This is a good opportunity to train your Caterpie and get it to evolve." Zac returns his Kakuna and steps away. Chris takes his place and sends out Caterpie.

Caterpie gets its ass handed to it twice. The third battle, it evolves and immediately uses Harden. Mankey hurts its hand. Metapod then proceeded to Tackle its opponent to death.

Now Mankey has had at least one round against every Pokémon (except Squirtle and Bulbasaur). It finally learns Low Kick. It also knows Scratch, Focus Energy, and Fury Swipes.

Zac looks at his Pokédex. It's already 6:00 PM. "All right," he sighs. "Let's go take a break, and at 7:00 you'll have your rematch."

"Yay!" Andrew cheers. "I have a craving for jelly beans! Let's get some!"

Everyone falls down anime-style.

* * *

"Well, well, well, I didn't expect to see you guys again so soon."

Zac and Chris shrug. "Well, we didn't expect to run into _this_ one," Zac replies, pointing at Andrew. "He, too, is from that other world we were telling you about."

Brock is very surprised to hear this. "Oh, wow! No wonder he looked so confused when I first met him."

Zac sighs. "No, he's just like that _all_ the time." Andrew starts to repeatedly walk into a wall and call out "Strudel!" every time he hits the wall. Zac scratches his head. "Although, he wasn't really _that_ strange in our home world. I mean, he was hyperactive and all, but he wasn't nuts like this. The trip here must have screwed up his brain somehow..."

So, after Andrew finishes the muffin Chris gave him to distract him from the wall, the battle starts. Brock throws off his trench coat and releases Geodude. Andrew releases Mankey.

"Challenger Andrew Homlish from an alternate universe versus Pewter Gym Leader Brock," the ref calls out. "Begin the match!"

The battle that Zac and Chris proceed to witness is jaw-droppingly short.

Mankey comes in on Geodude like a rabid possum and uses Fury Swipes again and again on its face. Geodude is finally able to push Mankey off. Mankey then hits him with a Low Kick.

"Geodude is no longer able to battle! Mankey wins!"

Mankey attacks the ref and bites his arm.

After Mankey is forcibly pulled off the ref, the match continues.

Brock releases Onix.

"Use... uh... Focus... Energy! Yeah, that one!" Andrew calls. "Use Rock Throw, Onix!" The lithe and agile Mankey easily dodges the rocks. The Focus Energy has Mankey all riled up. It starts screeching. "Low Kick!" Mankey starts charging before Andrew could even finish yelling the attack name. It kicks Onix exceptionally hard in the lower body region. This causes Onix to fall down. Mankey then follows up with another powerful Low Kick right to the face. Onix's head slides a few feet back from the impact. It doesn't move again.

Since Mankey knocked the ref out earlier, no one announces Andrew's victory. However, it's pretty damn obvious to everyone that he has won.

Andrew and Brock return their Pokémon, and Brock gives him a Boulderbadge. He wipes a tear out of his eye. "I had to give three of those in one day... I don't normally lose like this..." He smiles. "You guys are exceptionally strong. Keep up the good work."

* * *

The group eats dinner with Brock and his family again. They had to tie Andrew to his chair to keep him from starting a heavy, ceramic plate fight, but besides that, the dinner goes very well. Brock insists that they sleep there again, so they do.

Andrew is bouncing all over his bed. "I wanna play, let's play, let's eat CANDY, sugar is good, we can play all night, we can never go to sleep, we can stay up forever and live on jelly beans, we can-" He falls asleep in midair and falls back down onto his bed, snoring.

Chris is staring at Andrew in horror. "If he's gonna travel with us, we have to do something about the craziness..."

Zac chuckles. "I guess. I'm sure we'll learn to live with it."

They turn out the lights and crawl sleepily into bed.

"You know, Chris," Zac says after a while, "Andrew has serious potential."

"For being the most insane person in the world? This world _and_ our world?"

"No, for being a great Trainer. It took us a while to get him started, but look at how well he and Mankey did against Brock today. He didn't have any troubles at all! And _we_ did."

Chris sighs. "Whatever. Great Trainer or not, he needs to learn how to calm down..." Chris starts snoring.

Zac looks up at the ceiling. (I can't wait to go against all those Trainers tomorrow. Brock said there'll be tons of 'em on the way to Mt. Moon! I can't wait...)

Zac finally joins the others and falls fast asleep.

**I am warning you now: Andrew is gonna be crazy like this throughout the whole story. However, I think he is very funny. He says and does the most random shit, and I find that kind of humor _very_ funny. So if you don't like Andrew... get over it:) Hope you like it so far! **


	8. The Legend of the Stones

Chapter 8 – Onward to Mt. Moon! The Legend of the Stones

**I have one thing to say before I start this chapter: Ephraim-kun, I really hope you are right. : )**

"Go, Spearow!" cries Zac.

"Go, Metapod!" yells Chris.

"Go do some stuff, Pikachu!" Andrew cheers.

This is how the majority of the day goes. It seems that Brock wasn't kidding when he said the road to Mt. Moon is a popular place for Trainers to hang around and battle, and many of those Trainers are eager to challenge everyone they see. Zac, Chris, and Andrew often split up to battle challengers. They win every time, but their Pokémon are often needing Potions, especially Andrew's Pokémon since he only has two...

Nothing extraordinary happens, unless you consider Metapod and Kakuna both evolving "extraordinary." Zac's Kakuna evolves first. He is battling some young boy and his Ekans.

"Kakuna, use String Shot!" Ekans dodges and uses Wrap. Kakuna repeatedly uses Poison Sting until Ekans finally lets go. Ekans uses Leer to weaken Kakuna and then uses Wrap again. It squeezes tight. It seems that Kakuna is about to "faint", but then it starts glowing...

Andrew suddenly appears at Zac's side. "Hi."

Zac nearly jumps out of his skin. "Wha-! I thought you were in the middle of a battle!" "I was, but I won," Andrew replies simply. "I came to see the pretty light. Oooh, pretty liiiight!" Zac looks, too.

Kakuna's body is now a bright white light. The light grows bigger and changes shape. The light fades to reveal a Beedrill. "Coooool!" Andrew says.

Beedrill easily shakes the Ekans off. It spreads its wings and buzzes into the air. "Yay!" Zac cheers. "Now, use Fury Attack!" Beedrill flies at Ekans and repeatedly stabs it with its long, needle-like arms. Ekans has been finished off. The young Trainer returns it. "Awesome Beedrill you got there!" the kid congratulates Zac. Zac grins and returns Beedrill. "Thanks."

Soon after, Chris's Metapod evolves. He is battling a young girl's Jigglypuff. Metapod uses Tackle, but Jigglypuff dodges and responds with a Double Slap. Metapod quickly uses Harden to reduce the damage. Metapod then hits its opponent with a strong Tackle. Jigglypuff almost falls, regains its balance, and then starts to use Sing. "Gah, no!" Chris yells. "Uuh... I got it! Use String Shot to cover its mouth!" "Her!" the girl Trainer says indignantly. "_Her_ mouth! Jeez..." It works, and just in time, too; Metapod was starting to get sleepy. Metapod then uses Tackle. Jigglypuff can't respond quickly enough because of the String Shot, so Metapod finishes her with another Tackle. Jigglypuff doesn't get up.

"All right, I win!" Chris cheers. The girl pours and returns her Jigglypuff. Chris is about to do the same with Metapod, but the Bug Pokémon starts glowing. Like Kakuna, it becomes a bright light, changes shape, and fades away to reveal its evolved form, Butterfree. "Freeeee!" it calls in its distinctly shrill voice. It flutters into the air and glitter falls from its wings.

"Oooh, what a _cute_ Butterfree!" the girl squeals. "Th-thanks," Chris replies, somewhat dumbstruck. (Zac – "No, he's just _dumb_.") Chris returns his new Butterfree. He walks up to Zac and smiles. "Come on, let's go."

Zac and Chris start to walk away, but then they realize that Andrew and Pikachu are nowhere in sight. They walk by a tree while trying to find their missing companions.

Andrew and Pikachu jump out of the tree. Pikachu lands on Squirtle, knocking him down, and Andrew lands on Zac, knocking _him _down.

"OOWWW!" Zac yells in pain. He throws the laughing Andrew off his back and gets up. "What the fuck is your problem?" he yells angrily. "Hey, watch your mouth!" Chris cautions angrily. "He's just a little kid."

"Holy shit, Zac," Andrew says. "Why the fuck are you so goddamn pissed off? Jesus Christ..." He and Pikachu continue walking down the road... or actually happily skipping down the road.

Zac and Chris exchange very confused- and very scared- looks.

* * *

It is nearly dark when they reach the large Pokémon Center in front of Mt. Moon. After they give their Pokémon a much-needed rest, Zac asks Nurse Joy about a room for them to sleep in.

Nurse Joy laughs. "I'm sorry, but go behind the Center and see how many other Trainers wanted rooms. We only have so many rooms! Once again, I apologize." The group leaves to see how many people are behind the Center.

There are at least twenty tents and little campfires.

The group silently walks back into the Center and they give Nurse Joy blank looks. "I told you," she laughs. "Are-are _all _of those people planning to go into Mt. Moon?" Zac asks, dumbstruck. "Heavens, no!" Joy replies. "As I am sure you have seen, the Route to Mt. Moon is a very popular place for greenhorn Trainers to battle. It is a great way for people to train before they go on the 2nd Badge." "So... don't they need to go through Mt. Moon to get to Cerulean City?" Chris asks confusedly. "No," Joy replies slowly. "Didn't you guys get HMs for Fly when you started?" "Um, no," Zac replies. "Why? Were we supposed to have?" "Well, most new Trainers these days get an HM of their choice when they start their journey. It's kind of like a traditional parting gift." "Well... we're a different case," says Chris. "I see," says Joy. "Well, anyway, most choose Fly since it's so convenient, and as a result, most just Fly over Mt. Moon. Mt. Moon has always been a notoriously difficult place for greenhorn Trainers to have to get through."

Chris looks crestfallen, but Zac just grins. "Thanks for the info," he says, and he leads the group out of the Center.

They set up camp and cook dinner. As they eat their rice and beef, Chris speaks up. "It kinda sucks we have to go through Mt. Moon when nearly no one else has to." "Yeah, whatever," Zac replies, obviously not caring. "Well..." Chris presses on, "don't you think it's just a tad bit unfair we didn't get to start with an HM like everyone else?" "Yeah, I guess." Zac remains nonchalant. "I LOVE KENTUCKY-FRIED FROG LEG OF RABBIT!" Andrew suddenly cries out. Zac and Chris, trying to learn to ignore him, do just that.

A kind Trainer walks up to them tentatively. "I'm sorry," he says, "but I couldn't help overhearing what you were saying. Would you... like to borrow one of my HMs? I have Fly and Cut..."

Zac's face immediately lights up. "Can we use both?" he asks. "You forgot 'please'," Chris grumbles, more to himself than Zac. He is trying to give up on teaching Zac manners.

The Trainer smiles. "Sure." He hands the disk-shaped machines to Zac. Zac releases Spearow. "Chris, take out your Pidgey."

They use HM Fly on the two Bird Pokémon and HM Cut on Bulbasaur. "Thanks a lot," Zac says and he returns the HMs. "No problem," the Trainer replies with a smile. He walks away.

"Wow, Zac," Chris says sarcastically. "You said _thanks_. What's with the sudden manners?" Zac throws a rock at Chris. "Don't test me." "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," says Chris somewhat angrily. "Anyway... are we gonna Fly over Mt. Moon or what?" "How _can_ we, dumbass?" Zac replies as if the answer is extremely obvious... which it is. "How the hell are two small Bird Pokémon supposed to carry _three_ people over a mountain? Never _mind_ Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu." "Good point," Chris mumbles. Zac grins. "Besides, we're not pussies. Even if we _could _Fly over, I wouldn't allow it. We're gonna be much better Trainers if we go through there! All these wimps want the easy way out... HA! Let's see how far they get in the Pokémon League!" "Whatever," Chris sighs, rolling his eyes.

(He doesn't get it, does he?) Chris thinks to himself. (All these Trainers stick around here and battle each other for a few days to get the same training benefit as going through Mt. Moon without having to go through the difficulty of navigating the huge cave. Whatever... Our Birds can't get us over the mountain, anyway...)

(Chris is so _stupid_,) Zac thinks to himself. (Battling here for a few days will train the _Pokémon _enough to replace the experience gained in Mt. Moon, but it does nothing to help the _Trainers_. We'll come out stronger than all these pussy Trainers!)

(I wonder...) Andrew thinks to himself, (has anyone made chicken-flavored Jell-O yet? They should!)

(A/N – I do not own Jell-O ™.)

* * *

Zac, Chris, Andrew, and their Pokémon stare into the mouth of the cave known as Mt. Moon.

Chris swallows hard. "We're going? In there?" "Yep," Zac nods. Chris takes a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ready." "For the bacon, the sweet bacon!" Andrew cheers as they run in.

After about a minute, they stop running in the cave. It's not because it's dark; it's not very dark in the cave for some reason. It's because of all the wild Pokémon around. They continue walking at a more leisurely pace, trying not to disturb the Pokémon.

"Now, in case you guys haven't noticed yet," Zac breaks the silence, "we've been following a path. It's hard to see, but there _is_ a path, and I bet it leads us to the exit. We can catch wild Pokémon or whatever, but do _not _leave this path." Zac and Chris look at Andrew. "Got it?" they say in unison. Andrew sweatdrops. "Yeah, I gots it."

They do end up catching Pokémon. Zac catches a Geodude and Chris catches a Paras. They turn to see Andrew and Pikachu chasing a Zubat. They follow it deep into the cave... very far away from the path.

"ANDREW!" Zac bellows. "Get back here!" No response. He and Chris can still hear his giggling. However, it's fading fast as he and Pikachu keep on running. Zac growls angrily. "Chris... stay here. Me and Squirtle are gonna go chase a couple of idiots." And just like that, Chris and Bulbasaur are left alone on the path. Chris looks at his faithful Pokémon. "Man, why do we keep getting ditched like this?" "Bulba..." Bulbasaur agrees sullenly.

* * *

Zac and Squirtle run in the general direction they saw Andrew run in. Eventually, they start hearing his laughter again. The laughter guides them in the right direction. They catch up with Andrew. The boy and his Pikachu lose sight of the Zubat and stop to look at Zac and Squirtle. Zac is doubled over, trying to regain his breath. "You... my friend... are... an idiot..." "Thanks!" Andrew says with a big, cheerful smile. He turns around a spots a ladder leading down a dark hole. He and Pikachu run over to it, excited. "Oooh, cool ladder! Come on, Pikachu!" The two start climbing down the ladder. "Andrew!" Zac yells, but it's obviously no use. The kid is oblivious, completely oblivious.

Zac releases his Beedrill before descending the ladder. "When Andrew is in sight, use String Shot to wrap up his legs, okay?" Beedrill buzzes affirmatively and flies down the hole. Zac and Squirtle soon join it at the bottom of the ladder. It is quite a bit darker here.

"Andrew, I'm gonna _kill_ you!" Zac calls into the darkness, frustrated. "Squirtle, stay close. I don't wanna have to look for even _more_ friends down here..." "Squirtle, Squirtle!" he says affirmatively.

Suddenly, he hears someone... or something... moving very close to him. He and his two Pokémon turn in the direction they heard the noise. "A-Andrew?" Zac stutters in spite of himself. He doesn't want to show he's afraid. It doesn't matter that there is no one there to _see _him afraid; it's the principle of the thing.

The moving suddenly stops. "Who's there?" a gruff voice that definitely doesn't belong to Andrew inquires suspiciously.

"Well, hi, there!" Andrew says cheerfully. He shows up with a lit torch.

"Wha-! How-! How did you-?" Andrew giggles at Zac's stuttering. "I found it. I lit it using a lighter I didn't have a couple minutes ago. Plot holes rule!"

Andrew's light illuminates the man Zac heard a few moments ago. It's a full-grown man. He looks like he's in his thirties. He has messy, dirty blond hair and stubble all over his chin and along his jaw line. He looks very tall to Zac, about 6'3". He's wearing a white lab coat. Well, it _would_ be white if the dirt on it wasn't thick enough to write your name in it with your fingertip. "Who are you?"

"I'm... a scientist," he says shortly as if trying to avoid the topic. "Listen, kid, have you seen a Moon Stone around here?"

"Oh, you mean the thing that makes certain Pokémon evolve, like Clefairy! Why are you looking for it, mister?" "None of your business!" the man snaps. "Well, if you see one, tell me. I need one." He starts to walk away, but Zac calls after him. "Hey, wait! Why do ya need it? Tell me!" The scientist stops and growls in annoyance. He whirls around to glare at Zac angrily. "Why should I tell you?" "Well..." Zac hints, "I don't really _feel_ like helping you. Catch my drift?"

The stranger rolls his eyes. "Fine, whatever." (He's just a kid, anyway...) he thinks to himself. He's still not happy about it.

"Do you know anything about the evolutionary stones?" "Yeah," Zac answers eagerly. "The Moon Stone, Leaf Stone, Fire Stone, Water Stone, and Thunder Stone! They all make certain Pokémon evolve." "You forgot Sun Stone," the man points out. "Oh... uh... yeah, sorry." Zac doesn't want to have to explain where he comes from to this stranger. Besides, he seems untrustworthy...

"Well, the Stones have another point, see?" the man continues. "Not many people know this... If you put them all together, they summon the ultimate Pokémon. Legend has it that's why they were created in the first place. If I can summon the ultimate Pokémon... well, we scientists would understand a lot more about Pokémon." (That's the usual excuse... I'm sure the kid will fall for it.)

The man thought right. Zac's eyes widen in amazement. "Oh, that's so cool! Yeah, I'll help you. Me and Andrew will get right on it!" "Good," the man says. He points in the opposite direction of where the ladder they came down is located. "On the other side of this little cavern, there's a ladder that'll bring you to a different part of Mt. Moon. Look around there, okay? I'm gonna go down the ladder over there... even further down..."

And with that, the man walks away. Zac takes the torch out of Andrew's hand. He holds it out in front of him in the direction the man indicated. He takes a deep breath.

"Squirtle, Beedrill, Andrew, Pikachu... let's go find a Moon Stone!"

**The plot thickens! What will happen to Zac and Andrew? If the stranger really is not a scientist, then who is he? And what will Chris and Bulbasaur end up doing? Find out all this and more in the next chapter... An Unexpected Hero!**


	9. An Unexpected Hero

Chapter 9 – Andrew In Trouble! An Unexpected Hero

Zac uses Andrew's torch to throw light in the direction the "scientist" directed. The two boys and their Pokémon make their way to the ladder. They climb up cautiously in the dark. When they reach the top, they find themselves in a pretty large cavern. It's not nearly as dark as the little cavern they just climbed out of. Zac looks around and sighs.

"It would've been nice if he told us what a Moon Stone _looks_ like," he complains. He turns to look at Andrew... to find he isn't there. "I can't believe it," Zac mutters. He starts walking around the cavern looking for Andrew. He tells Beedrill and Squirtle to split up and help. Within two minutes, Andrew pounces out from behind a rock and tackles Beedrill to the ground. It buzzes loudly in pain as it tries to get Andrew off it.

"ANDREW!" Zac bellows. "Get off my Beedrill, NOW!" Andrew obeys, laughing. "Now, Beedrill, use String-" Zac doesn't need to finish his command. Andrew is already getting wrapped up in the glistening white string shooting out of Beedrill's mouth.

Andrew starts to cry as Zac drags him along the cave floor. "Well, you shouldn't be so freakin' hyper!" Zac yells. Andrew ignores him and keeps on crying.

Zac, Squirtle, and Pikachu comb the cavern for weird-looking rocks while Beedrill guards Andrew to make sure he doesn't escape. After what seems like forever, Zac and the Pokémon search the entire cavern and come out empty-handed. Zac sighs.

"All right, let's go into the next area... There's another ladder behind that rock over there."

They search that cavern, and another one after that. They find a bunch of wild Pokémon, but no different-looking stones. In the third cavern, however, they run into somebody. It's another man wearing a white lab coat. He looks distressed.

"Hi, what's the matter?" Zac says while walking up to him from behind.

The man nearly jumps through the rocky ceiling. He turns and looks wildly at the strange group. He eyes the Pokémon and the tied-up Andrew, who is no longer crying but snoring pretty loudly. "Wh-who are you? How did you get here?"

"I'm Zac, and this Andrew," Zac says, pointing at the tied-up boy he's dragging. "Another scientist asked to help him find a Moon Stone. Are you looking for one, too?"

The man looks confused. "Well, yeah, but... what do you mean by 'another scientist'? I'm the only one here." Zac shakes his head. "Nope, another guy told us he's a scientist and he needs to find a Moon Stone to create the ultimate Pokémon and use it for scientific-" "WHAT!" the scientist exclaims, interrupting Zac. "No, kid, this is _not_ good. That wasn't a scientist; he was just pretending!" He shook his head. "There's been a gang of anonymous criminals trying to find a Moon Stone. It seems they already have all the other evolutionary stones. I mean, I highly doubt there is an "ultimate Pokémon" formed by the Stones. But still... they are criminals..."

"How come they haven't been caught yet?" Zac asks.

"Well... they aren't technically _criminals_," the man admits sheepishly. "But in _my _book, anyone pretending to be scientists for whatever reason is up to no good." Zac shrugs. "I can understand that." He suddenly feels embarrassed. (I can't believe I fell for that... I'll be sure to be more careful around strangers from now on. I don't wanna get tricked like this ever again...)

"Well, listen," Zac says, "why don't I keep looking for this Moon Stone? I'll give it to you instead if I find it. And then, can you help me and my friends get out of this cave?" "It's a deal," the scientist agrees, shaking Zac's hand. "I'll finish searching this cavern... You and your friends go into the next place and- Hey, wait. Where's that kid?"

Zac looks at the spot Andrew was laying a few seconds ago. His bindings are laying on the floor. They aren't cut or anything; it looks like Andrew somehow struggled out of the rope without anyone noticing. The Pokémon look just as confused as Zac and the scientist. Zac cracks his knuckles. "When I find that kid..." He takes a deep breath and calms down. The scientist points to yet another ladder. "Check down there," he says. "I'll stay here."

At that moment, a very loud sound like an explosion reaches their ears and the whole cavern shakes. A lot of dust and loose pebbles fall from the ceiling. Zac returns his Beedrill and starts running toward the ladder, Squirtle and Pikachu tailing close behind. (That explosion... it came from down there!) Zac thinks to himself in panic.

* * *

Bulbasaur has just defeated another angry Geodude. "Man," Chris mutters to himself, "what's up with all the Geodude here? They all attack us as soon as they see us!"

That's when they hear the explosion. It sounds like it came from far underneath the cave. The explosion sounds so distant, but both Chris and Bulbasaur felt a tremor from it.

"Holy crap..." Chris says in amazement. "I wonder if Zac and/or Andrew had anything to do with that... Actually, I really wouldn't be surprised if they _caused _it..."

Bulbasaur sweat-drops and mumbles in agreement. Chris looks down at her. "Hey, you wanna go look for them? They might need our help." Bulbasaur firmly shakes her head. "Bulba!" she declares. Chris can only guess what she is saying. He nods his head. "Yeah, you're right; we might get lost. I'm sure Zac is fine, and I'm sure he's making sure Andrew is fine, too."

Bulbasaur gives Chris a look that seems to say, "I don't know about _Andrew_..."

* * *

An amazing sight reaches Zac's eyes when he reaches the bottom of the ladder. The wall to his left has a huge, smoking hole in it. The rough edges are charred. It looks like that wall has just been introduced to dynamite, and it doesn't seem like the two got along very well; the wall looks like it's about to collapse.

Zac spots Andrew sitting Indian-style in the middle of the cavern, facing in the opposite direction of the blasted wall. He's looking at a Pokéball gleefully. Zac walks up to him and taps him on the shoulder. He whirls his head around and gives Zac a wide grin. "Hi! I just caught a Zubat! All on my own, too! Well, actually, Mankey helped me. I love my Mankey."

Zac looks from Andrew to the wall and back to Andrew again. "What did you do?" he inquires with a weary sigh. A truly confused expression crosses the eccentric boy's face. "Huh? What are you talking about?" "Um... the wall that just exploded," Zac says. "What did you do to it?" "What exploded wall?" Andrew asks innocently. Zac can tell he is not playing around; he really has no idea what just happened.

Zac sighs. "Look behind me." Zac steps to the side so Andrew can see what Zac was standing in front of a second ago. Andrew's eyes widen. "Wow! The wall _esplode_!" Zac sighs again. "Yes, Andrew, the wall esplode. Now, do you have any idea what happened?" Andrew shakes his head. With a smile, he shrinks his Zubat's Pokéball, puts it in his backpack, and stands up to stand next to Zac and stare at the wall with him. Without even saying anything, Andrew starts to walk into the room beyond the blasted wall.

"Hey, Andrew, wait up!" Zac calls after him. He, Squirtle, and Pikachu run to catch up to Andrew.

* * *

"Hey, Bulbasaur!" Chris calls. "I think Paras has found something!"

Bulbasaur runs over to where Chris and his new Paras are standing. Paras is looking at a somewhat concealed ladder and hissing excitedly. Bulbasaur smiles and approaches the ladder. Chris returns Paras and walks up to the ladder, too.

"Hmmm... Well, this _is_ the direction Zac and Andrew ran off in... Maybe we should try going down this ladder." Chris looks down the ladder. His eyes go small, his forehead turns blue, and he jumps away from the ladder trembling in fright. "D-d-d-d-dark! S-s-s-so dark!" Bulbasaur sighed and tried to push Chris towards the hole, but Chris is so busy being scared and fat, he doesn't even notice. She then Vine Whipped him in the ass, causing him to yelp in pain and fall down the ladder hole. Bulbasaur laughs at her master's scream of terror and leaps down after him.

* * *

"Andrew! Hurry! I saw feet on the top of that ladder!"

Zac, Andrew, and their two Pokémon sprint across the cavern towards the ladder. Zac knows he just saw feet disappear at the top of that ladder, and Pikachu seems to agree with him; its ears are twitching in the direction of the ladder.

When Zac and Andrew make it to the top of the ladder, they quickly turn their heads to take in the entire room. No one is there. Question marks pop up over Zac's head as he looks around. "Wow... they're fast..." Andrew sighs. "If only I had some choc-chip cookies..." Zac looks at him. "Choc-chip? How come you can't say 'chocolate chip' like a normal person?" Andrew shakes his head. "Normal person?" he says. "No, that's not possible. Let's look for shiny rocks now." Andrew walks up to a wall of the cavern and starts running his had over it, squinting at it as he walks along it. Zac just stands there and watches him, trying to think of what to do next...

It all seems to happen in slow motion. The wall Andrew is searching explodes from the other side... The rocks come tumbling down... When the dust clears, Andrew and Pikachu are nowhere in sight.

"ANDREW!" Zac screams. He and Squirtle run over to the huge pile of rocks and start heaving rocks off to the side. "No... he's buried in there... He's gonna die...!"

His muttering is interrupted by a pair of sinister chuckles. Zac looks up. On the other side of the wall, looking at them through the newly made hole, are two men. One of them Zac recognizes...

"Hey! You're that guy who told us about the ultimate Pokémon! The scientist was right; you _are_ a criminal!"

The man laughed even louder at this. "I can't believe you thought otherwise! It's not smart to trust strangers, kid..." He and his accomplice both laugh loudly at this. Squirtle squeals in delight. He just found Andrew's head. His eyes are closed, he's bleeding, and he's not moving. Zac helps Squirtle uncover Pikachu laying near him.

Zac loses control. He has never truly snapped before in his life. He charges at the laughing bastard in front of him. They are both surprised when he tackles him to the ground; neither of them expected him to be strong enough. Not only that, Zac is sitting on his chest now, pinning him to the ground, and is repeatedly punching him in the face.

A third man comes down a ladder on the criminals' side of the wall. He's holding a bright white stone and a small duffle bag. "I found it!" he yells.

The second man pulls Zac off the first man and throws him into a wall. Zac is hurt now, and he is too dazed to get up. He watches everything happen as if he is watching from a different world...

Squirtle screams and runs up to the criminals. He uses a strong Water Gun to blast the second man away. The first one runs up to him and kicks him. He, too, hits the wall and doesn't get up. He releases a strange Pokémon Zac has never seen before. It is a dog. It's pure black and has bright white, long, and sharp teeth. It's barking loudly at Zac and Squirtle, making sure they don't get up. Zac isn't watching the dog, though...

The third man eagerly dumps the contents of the duffle bag onto the ground. They are different-colored stones, and most have a design of some type on them. Zac recognizes them as the complete set of evolutionary stones. He drops the Moon Stone onto the pile.

After a few agonizingly long seconds, the pile starts to glow...

Suddenly, a white ball comes flying out of nowhere. It is rolling on the ground so fast, rocks are flying up behind it. It plows over the pile of rocks, scattering them everywhere and stopping the process. It hits the dog solidly in the face. The dog goes flying and copies Zac and Squirtle by ramming into the wall and not getting up. The ball stops rolling.

It's a Jigglypuff.

And it's not just any Jigglypuff. It takes out a microphone and glares at the criminals. It raises the mike to its lips and opens its mouth...

"Jiiiigalyyy puuuuuf, jigaaalyyy-" (A/N – It's singing. Get it: P )

"No!" Zac yells. He quickly presses his hands against his ears as hard as he can. He is surprised to find out that it works. He watches as everyone around him falls asleep. Jigglypuff lowers the mike and looks around. Zac waits for it to puff up and reveal the marker tip on the mike...

However, it does no such thing. It looks around happily. Zac slowly gets up. Jigglypuff greets him cheerfully.

"So... you saved us... You stopped those criminals... Thank you so much..." "Jigglypuff!" it responds with a big smile.

A loud sound and a flash of light startle both Zac and Jigglypuff. A Pokémon was just released. It's a Graveler. It uses Rock Throw on Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff gets crushed under the rocks. It struggles to get the rocks off, but the balloon Pokémon is just too weak.

Graveler slowly starts to approach Jigglypuff. It has a sinister grin on its face...

A jet of water hits Graveler square in its side and sends it flying back. Zac turns his head to see Squirtle. He is barely able to stand, and he looks hurt, but he's glaring defiantly at Graveler. Before Zac can even congratulate his Pokémon, something else starts happening...

The third man, who released the Graveler, is putting all the stones back together. At the same time, his two companion are getting up. They're smiling evilly. "Looks like you all failed," said the first man with a smirk. The third man puts the Leaf Stone into the pile, and the stones start to glow again...

The rocks are once again interrupted. This time, the sound of a gunshot causes everyone to jump, and the bullet hits the pile, causing some of the rocks to go flying out of it. Zac turns to look through the hole that was blasted in the wall earlier. Standing in it is a scientist with a revolver in his hand. It's the same guy that told Zac about the criminal. Zac's eyes go wide in shock.

"The name is Gray," he declares. He takes out a wallet and flips it open, revealing a large silver badge with an ornate "K" on it. "I'm an agent of the Kanto Militia, and you three are under arrest."

"What!" everyone cries. Zac is shocked that there is a such thing as a military force in the world of Pokémon; the three criminals are shocked that they just got arrested.

"What for?" they protest loudly. "We're just looking for a Moon Stone, we're just collectors..."

"Oh," Agent Gray sneers. "First, you're scientists, and now you're collectors. Is _that_ how it goes?" He chuckles darkly. "No... you're under arrest for disturbing the Pokémon wildlife of this cave. Plus, I have a feeling you don't have a license for using explosives, do you?" The criminals growl in defeat.

After Agent Gray searches them and binds their hands with handcuffs, he turns toward the rock beneath which Andrew and Pikachu are buried. He wordlessly starts lifting rocks off the pile. Zac tries to help, but his head hurts too much from being thrown into a stone cave wall.

Very soon, however, a group of construction workers and paramedics rush to the scene. The workers clear all the rock necessary for the paramedics to extract the boy and his Pokémon from the rubble. A big, black man among the construction workers walk over to Zac and shakes his hand.

"The name's Dartagnan Lewis," he says in a very quiet and deep voice. It's hard to distinguish his features in the darkness, but he is definitely a very, very big man, and most of it is from sheer muscle. (A/N – Pronounced Dartanian, in case you didn't realize that. You know, the full name for Dart. Yeah.) "I'm Zac Merlo," Zac says. "Thanks for coming down to help Andrew." "No problem," Dartagnan replies quietly. Zac gets the feeling he is a very soft spoken person despite his intimidating hugeness.

As the paramedics work together to get Andrew and Pikachu up the ladder, Chris and Bulbasaur run towards Zac and Squirtle. "What happened?" Chris asks in shock. Zac sighs wearily and sits down, rubbing his head. "Long story. I'll tell you later on tonight."

Dartagnan kneels down beside Zac and looks intently into his eyes. Zac starts to feel uncomfortable, and then... "You have a concussion. Come on; let's get you up that ladder."

Chris watches in shock as Dartagnan helps Zac up the ladder and out of sight. Pretty soon, it's just Chris, Bulbasaur, and Agent Gray standing in the cavern. Agent Gray is putting the evolutionary stones in individual baggies. Chris watches.

"You know," Gray speaks up suddenly, "that friend of yours... Merlo... he would be a great asset to the Kanto Militia when after he's grown up a bit." Chris snorts derisively. "Zac? I don't think so. He's pretty lazy, and he wouldn't want to follow orders..." "Who says he'd be the kind to be _following_ orders?" the agent replies quietly. Chris stares at him in disbelief. "A commanding officer? Pardon me, but what could possibly make you think that?"

The agent sighed and walked over to sit next to Chris. "I watched him. I didn't intervene right away. I wanted to see what he was capable of... He takes action immediately and he has a natural knack for fighting. We're running out of men, and he could be the perfect soldier."

Chris stands up and starts to walk away. Bulbasaur follows him. "So you want to recruit him? Sorry, sir, but I don't think so. Zac has no place in the military and he never will. We're just trying to find a way home... We're not heroes or anything."

Chris and Bulbasaur disappear up the ladder. Agent Gray looks down at his feet and sighs. "No... but he's hero material..."

**Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I hope you liked this chapter of the story, because it is a _very _important part. In fact, it is by far the most integral part of the story so far. I hope you liked the action. Maybe now you see that this fic is going to be different from your run-of-the-mill OC Trainer fic..._ much_** **different. Oh, yeah, and the "Unexpected Hero" was supposed to be Jigglypuff, who, in case, you have not noticed, is the same Jigglypuff that causes Ash and company so much trouble in the anime. : P**


	10. Fight for the Cascadebadge!

Chapter 10 – A Celebrity in Cerulean! Fight for the Cascadebadge!

**Note: I have changed Dartagnan's name to Dartanian. Well, it is the same name, but spelled differently. And I _know_ Dartanian is not a real name. I know the real way to spell it is D'Artagnan, but I started making this when I was much younger and I had not known that. And now, just for the hell of it, I am keeping it Dartanian.**

"W-w-what? Are you kidding me? He wanted me to join the military? Hahahaha!" Zac laughs.

Chris joins in. "Yeah, I know. I mean, we're just kids! How could he possibly see that you would be a 'great asset to the Kanto Militia'? I mean, honestly!"

Zac and Chris laugh some more. They are in the waiting room of the Cerulean ER. When Dartanian and the paramedics led Zac and Chris to the end of Mt. Moon, they found ambulances waiting to for them. Andrew was rushed to the ER, and Pikachu was rushed to intensive care in the Cerulean Pokémon Center.

It is getting dark outside. Zac suddenly remembers what town they are in... (Cerulean City!) he thinks excitedly. (This is where I'm gonna get my second Badge!) He frowns. (We're gonna have to wait for tomorrow... Damn those fuckin' crooks. If they hadn't hurt Pikachu and Andrew... Well, then again, if we didn't get a ride in the ambulance, we would still be walking here.) He gives a silent, sheepish chuckle. (I'm glad they're okay, though. I don't know _what_ I would've done if Andrew died...)

The doctor walks into the waiting room and smiles warmly at Zac and Chris who are both holding their sleeping Pokémon. "You can come and see him now."

When they walk into Andrew's room, he is not in his bed. The doctor looks around, question marks popping up over his head, as Zac and Chris sweat-drop in exasperation.

"Oi, what's with this TV?"

They look up to see Andrew crouching down on top of the TV up on the shelf in front of the bed. He's hanging upside down off the top of the TV now, feet hooked onto the back of it, staring directly into the screen and tapping it. The doctor jumps five feet in the air and yells in shock. He sprints over and drags the laughing Andrew back to his bed. Zac and Chris exchange sad smiles; Andrew is perfectly fine.

They get a closer look at him. He has a bandage around his head. His face is spotted with numerous cuts and bruises. The doctor looks at him and shakes his head. "It's a miracle that none of his bones broke... His shoulder somehow got dislocated, though, so watch that. And he definitely seems to have hurt his left knee cap; he can't walk on it without limping." Zac nods, but quickly stops as this hurts his head very much. The doctor raises an eyebrow at him. "And _you_, boy... I let you sit out there with Chris. Now it is time for you to get some bed rest, too. Concussions should always be taken seriously, no matter _how_ minor they are." Zac grumbles his consent. He walks over to the bed next to Andrew's and flings the curtain around him so he can get dressed. Chris and the doctor walk out.

After about a minute, Zac flings the curtain open again and heavily sits down on his bed. He turns on his TV. Andrew stops jumping on his bed and pouts heavily at him. "Hey, no fair! My TV doesn't work!" "Yeah, I noticed," Zac mutters, switching through the TV stations. He stops when he sees Professor Oak. His eyes widen as he realizes that he's talking about him and Chris.

"...and they told me how strange _this_ world was to them. They said it's like a... a cartoon. I can't possibly imagine what they mean when they describe this other world they come from..."

"Well," his interviewer says, "as we all know, scientists are doing extensive research about this alleged Real World, as they like to call it now. Merlo and Mattice aren't the only ones. Two boys and a girl appeared in Pewter, and a bunch of other kids appeared in a bunch of different cities. About 35 of them appeared in Goldenrod City. How crazy is that, eh, folks?" He chuckles. "Yes, well," Oak says sternly, "I think this is very sad. All these people are trying to find a way back home. Think of how distressed their families and friends must be! I believe it is our duty as scientists to put all our work into finding these poor people a way back home. Now, the scientists in Cinnabar are doing the most work, of course, and they already have a general idea as to what to do. They figure that they were all flung into this World, the Pokémon World, by means of a natural-"

At that moment, Zac's viewing is interrupted by a brick going through the poor, unsuspecting TV screen.

"WHAT THE HELL?" he yells. Andrew grins. "Sorry. I like throwing bricks." "Wh-where the hell did you get one?" Zac splutters in fury. "I dunno," Andrew replies with a shrug. He then lies down in his bed and promptly falls asleep. Muttering various curse words under his breath, Zac follows his lead, and after a while, he finally falls asleep, too.

* * *

After a lot of arguing, Zac convinces the doctor that the brick was purely an accident. After that, Zac is discharged from the hospital. As he, Chris, and their Pokémon walk out, blinking heavily in the bright morning sun, Zac suddenly stops.

"I get the feeling we're forgetting something..."

Chris chuckles. "I know; Andrew. The doctor says he needs to stay in the hospital for one more day." "Great," Zac grumbles. "Well, do you think we should wait for him to go challenge Misty?" "Nah," Chris replies. "We can take him to the Gym tomorrow so he can get his Badge, too." "You're talking as if all three of us are gonna win..." "Well, we will, won't we?" Chris says. It's more of a matter-of-fact statement than a question. Zac inwardly shrugs; Chris does have a point. They aren't going to lose.

"So," says Chris after a bit of walking in silence, "should we head over to the Gym now?" "No way, food time!" Zac says eagerly. "I haven't had anything to eat in ages! Breakfast time!" He runs to a diner. Chris admits that he's pretty hungry, too. He struggles to catch up with Zac. "Wait up!"

* * *

Zac, Chris, and their Pokémon walk out of the diner. Zac rubs his stomach blissfully. "Aaaah, much better." He burps loudly. Chris cringes but keeps his mouth shut. There's no point in telling Zac off for poor manners; he just doesn't care. Well, he doesn't care _most_ of the time.

They walk around Cerulean City for a bit. Despite the fact it is close to February, the weather is pretty nice. Zac stretches and yawns happily. He looks around with a confident smile on his face.

"You ready for that Gym match now, Chris?" "I've _been_ ready for some time now," Chris points out. "Shut up!" Zac replies cheerfully. "And let's go!"

With the help of a few signs, they find the Cerulean Gym. It is much bigger than the Pewter Gym. When Zac and Chris walk in, they immediately see why. The entrance hall is lined with mini indoor swimming pools. There are a few swimmers doing laps. Some are having Water Pokémon battles. Some of the Trainers wave to Zac and Chris, and a whole lot of girls squeal "Oh, kawaii!" when they see Zac's Squirtle. Squirtle turns a little red in embarrassment and gives the girls a sheepish grin. As a result, Zac, Chris, and their Pokémon make a mad dash toward the big doors that open up into the next room so the girls giving chase won't suffocate Squirtle with their affection. And I mean literally suffocate.

They fling the doors open and close them behind them to make sure the girls don't follow. Zac then looks around the well-lit room they just ran into.

It has one gigantic pool in the middle with two small yellow platforms on each end and one big red one in the center. There's a high-dive board as well. The huge room has bleachers on one side. It seems that entertainment is sometimes provided for the public here.

There is only one person in the entire room. A little man with graying hair seems to be tending to the pool with a very large net. He's grumbling about an automated filtering system. It looks to Zac like the pool's cleaning system is broken and this man is now manually removing extra dirt and debris from the pool. "Uh, hi," says Zac.

The man jumps about 5 feet into the air. He wildly turns his head and stares at the visitors with huge eyes. "What the hell! Misty didn't say anything about Trainers coming!"

At that moment, Misty walks into the room. She smiles. "Sorry, Joe, I didn't get up here to tell you in time. I was taking a shower." The man grumbled. "I'm not even in my referee clothes..." "Oh, who cares?" Misty says dismissively.

At this point she turns to look at Zac and Chris. She places a hand on her hip and smiles. Zac can't help but see how much more... grown up she is than he remembers her from the anime in the Real World. She's wearing a small, red belly shirt and short blue jean shorts. These clothes do much to show off her very well developed body, and Zac admits it's a big improvement. Also, around her neck hangs a beautiful sapphire necklace. Her hair is different, too. It's not tied up at all and it's much longer. It reaches the middle of her back.

"Uh," Zac says, "how old are you?"

Chris hits him in the head as she yells, "YOU NEVER ASK A LADY THAT QUESTION!"

"Aw, come on, Misty, he wants to know! You want me to tell him?"

Misty's face freezes in shock. Her eyes go wide in disbelief. She slowly turns her head to look at the speaker who just walked in from the same door she did.

"What are you _doing_ here?" she yells at Ash Ketchum in disbelief.

Zac gapes at him. He, too, is older. He's wearing nothing but blue swimming trunks with Pokéball patterns on it and a white beach towel draped over his shoulders. His body is more well built than Zac would have thought. Then again, Ash was just a somewhat scrawny kid in the anime. It makes sense that, after all his traveling, his body would become more muscular. Zac suppresses a laugh as he imagines Ash trying to lift weights and having no idea what he's doing. Zac notices his Pikachu standing at his heel.

Ash frowns slightly at Misty and tilts his head to the side. "I live here with you now, remember?"

She sighs exasperatedly. "Yes, _I _know you live here, but the _press_ doesn't! At least not yet, and I would like to _keep_ it that way for as long as possible!" He pouts. "What? These kids don't look like members of the press to _me_." "Yeah, but they'll go talking about how they met the famous Ash, you know that! Grrrr!"

Zac and Chris just watch the argument. When it stops with Misty seething with anger and Ash smiling a somewhat cocky smile, Zac clears his throat.

"So, uh, when can we battle, Misty?"

She turns on her heel and points a quivering finger at the two boys. "And _you_," she says in a dangerous tone of voice," _you_ better not breathe a _word _about this, understand? I don't want the press and the paparazzi swarming my Gym!" Ash scratches his head with an uncomfortable expression on his face. "I think you're overreacting a bit, babe... These two won't say anything. Right?" He turns his smiling face towards Zac and Chris. Chris immediately responds. "Of course we won't say anything! It must be tough being the Pokémon Master, huh?"

Ash sighs and sits down on the edge of the pool, idly kicking his feet in the water. Pikachu jumps onto his shoulder. "Yeah, and I'm not even the _World_ Pokémon Master yet. I still have to win the Johto League. Imagine how my life would be if I was _that _famous! I would be the second Master in history to be the Champion of every League in the world!" He grins. "But it's all worth it! Dealing with the press is such a small price to pay for living out your dream!"

Misty sighs in defeat and walks over to Ash. "Well... good morning, sleepy head," she says in a completely calm voice. She bends down and kisses him on the lips. "You looking to go for a swim?" "Yep," he replies happily. "Okay," she says warmly. "When I'm done with these two, I'll go down and meet you, get changed, and we can swim. Joe just finished cleaning the pool." Joe grumbles again. "So, I'll see you later?" she says sweetly.

Ash looks at his girlfriend incredulously. "What are you, nuts? I'm staying and watching this! I haven't seen one of your Gym battles in a long time, babe! Now that they know I'm here, what's the harm in me staying and watching?" "Fine," she sighs. "Go watch." She points to the bleachers. Ash nods and he and Pikachu sit in the back row of the bleachers. "Good luck!" he calls out to Zac and Chris. "Pika, pika!" Pikachu calls out encouragingly.

Zac and Chris look at each other. "I didn't know they were going out," Zac whispers. "Me neither," replies Chris. "This World is very different from the Pokémon World we got to know back home." "I guess it's just the future," Zac whispers. "Makes sense, huh?"

"Ahem," Misty interrupts them. She smiles sweetly as they turn to look at her. "Which one of you is first?" "I am!" Zac says in a challenging tone of voice. "Very good," she says happily. "Shall we?"

Zac and Squirtle walk over to a yellow platform with much determination in their stride. Misty stations herself on the platform opposite her opponent. "Okay, you ready to hear the rules?" she calls across the pool. Zac nods. "All right, here they are," she says. "They're very simple. Since you two are beginners..." She pauses. "Um... you _are_ beginners, right?" Zac nods again. "Okay, good," she says happily. "Anyway, since you're a beginner, I can only use two Pokémon and you can use all of your Pokémon. Got it? Also, we're both allowed to switch out in the middle of battle." "All right!" Zac replies. "Let's go!"

Misty takes out a Pokéball and with a little twirl, she throws it into the water. "Come on out, Staryu!" Staryu appears in the water and the Pokéball flies back into Misty's hand. "Go, Beedrill!" Zac yells in response. It comes out and hovers over the water, the buzzing sound of its wings very loud.

Misty turns blue. "EEEP! Bug, Bug, Bug! Icky Bug! I _hate _yucky, creepy Bug Pokémon! I'm going to have to finish this quickly! Staryu, Water Pulse!" Staryu jumps up into the air. A strange wave of water shoots out of its top point, the same way it uses Water Gun. Beedrill dodges the attack. "Use Focus Energy, Beedrill!" Zac calls out as Staryu drops back into the water. Beedrill visibly tenses up, its buzzing becoming louder and angrier. "Now use Fury Attack!" It charges at the Staryu. It starts making rapid stabs at Staryu, but Staryu sways from side to side in the water, dodging Beedrill's arms. "Use Water Gun to knock Beedrill away!" Staryu points the tip of its top edge at Beedrill and shoots a stream of water at it. The Water Gun hits Beedrill, causing it to go flying back a little. It stays in the air, however. The Water Gun didn't hurt it that much. "Use Poison Sting!" Beedrill charges once more. It thrusts its rear end at Staryu, trying to sting it, but Staryu simply goes underwater. "Now use Rapid Spin!" Misty cries. There's no response. Beedrill looks around, confused. Then, suddenly, Staryu leaps out of the water behind Beedrill, spinning so fast it just looks like a yellowish blur. It hits Beedrill in the back. It injures one of its wings. It falls into the water and flails helplessly. Staryu then proceeds to Tackle it in the water a few times. Beedrill manages to hit Staryu once with Poison Sting before fainting. Zac notices this, but Misty does not.

"Beedrill is unable to battle!" cries Joes the ref. "Staryu wins!"

Zac returns his Beedrill. He takes out another Pokéball and throws it. "Go, Spearow!" Spearow comes out, flies over to the red platform in the center of the pool, and sits on it, cleaning its wings. Misty sweat-drops. "Uh, lazy bird you've got there." Zac shrugs. "Yeah, I guess." Misty smirks. "Use Water Pulse, Staryu!" Spearow jumps up into the air to avoid the wave of water. It then resumes cleaning its wings with a bored expression on its face. Zac suppresses a grin. (I love the attitude that Bird has...) "Fine," says Misty. "Let's see you dodge _this_! Swift attack!" Staryu points its top edge at Spearow and numerous yellow starts shoot out of it. "Use Fly!" Spearow flies into the air, causing the Swift attack to miss. "Now, attack!" Zac yells. Spearow comes hurtling down at Staryu. The attack is successful; however, Spearow dives right into the water in the process. Its head breaks the surface, but it cannot get out. Spearow still seems bored. Misty grins somewhat wickedly. "It's over now! Use Tackle, Staryu!" Staryu comes hurtling thorough the water straight at Spearow. Spearow turns its head to face it... "Use Leer!" Spearow squawks and glares at Staryu with red, gleaming eyes. Staryu stops dead in its tracks. "Hya!" Staryu gives its strange call. The voice sounds nervous. "Now use Fury Attack!" Spearow struggles in the water to get close to Staryu, and then unleashes a large number of rapid, painful pecks on it. "Staryu, jump out of the water onto the center platform!" This is what Zac has been waiting for. "Quick, Spearow, grab on!" Staryu jumps out of the water with Spearow clinging tightly to it with its long, sharp claws. It lets go of Staryu in midair and takes flight once more. It lands on Zac's platform and starts shaking and nibbling at its wings to get the water off. "Staryu, Water Pulse! ... Staryu?" Staryu doesn't move. It looks shaky standing on the platform. It collapses and doesn't get back up. "Ha!" says Zac. "It's about time! The poison finally got to it!" "No!" Misty shouts. "Jump into the water, Staryu, quick!" But it's too late; Staryu has fainted.

"Staryu is unable to battle! Spearow wins!"

Spearow squawks arrogantly before Zac returns it. Misty sadly returns her Starmie.

"That's it!" she says. "Time for Starmie to come out! Go, Starmie!" She throws a Pokéball into the water and Starmie appears. Zac looks down at his faithful Squirtle. "You ready?" Squirtle curtly nods. He steps forward, scowling at Starmie.

"Nice Squirtle you got there!" Ash calls from the bleachers admiringly. Zac and Squirtle both smile.

"It won't win!" Misty declares defiantly. "Starmie, use Swift!" The stars hit Squirtle. He stumbles a bit on the platform, but he takes the pain. "Jump into the water, Squirtle, and lets start this battle!" says Zac. Squirtle jumps in with a small splash. Misty laughs. "Not a good move! Starmie, Tackle!" Starmie charges at Squirtle at a much faster speed than Staryu. Squirtle dodges just in time. "Use Tackle, Squirtle!" Before Starmie can respond, Squirtle Tackles it from behind. "Starmie, Recover." Starmie glows briefly as it heals itself. Zac growls. "Great..." he mutters. "Starmie, use Water Pulse!" Squirtle goes under to dodge it. "Use Tail Whip!" Zac shouts. Squirtle comes out of the water directly in front of Starmie and hits it with his tail. The force pushes Starmie away from Squirtle, but the attack doesn't really do any damage. However, it does weaken Starmie's defenses... "Use Tail Whip again!" "Use Tackle!" Misty cries. Before Squirtle can finish swinging his tail, Starmie hits him with a solid and powerful Tackle attack. Squirtle goes flying back quite a bit in the water. "Again!" Misty cries gleefully. "Use Bubble, Squirtle!" The barrage of bubbles slows Starmie down so Squirtle can dodge and retaliate. He does so by going underwater and using Tail Whip twice. "Now use Tackle, Squirtle!" As expected, Starmie dodges, but this time Squirtle grabs onto him from under the water. Suddenly, Starmie disappears as Squirtle pulls it down beneath the water. Misty laughs again. "Does your Squirtle have a death wish? It has no chance against a Starmie underwater!"

It's hard to tell what's going on because they are down so deep. The water keeps rippling, so Zac guesses that they are dealing each other blow after blow underwater. Suddenly, the water starts to glow. A bright white light emanates from the bottom of the pool. When it fades, Starmie suddenly flies out of the water and into the air. Close behind it is an angry Wartortle. "YES!" Zac shouts. "My Squirtle evolved!" "It still doesn't matter," says Misty. "Starmie, use Recover!" Starmie glows and heals itself before it falls back down into the water. Wartortle follows it in. Zac strains to think. (Starmie was weakened by those Tail Whips. I had Squirtle do that before it evolved so Starmie can be finished in one hit... but the only physical move Wartortle knows right now is Tackle, and that's not strong enough to finish a Starmie in one hit. I have to think outside the box here...) And then it hits him.

"Wartortle!" he shouts so Wartortle can hear him underwater. "Swim to one of the pool's walls!" Wartortle rises close to the surface so Zac can see him and he swims to Zac's side of the pool. Starmie follows. "Now face the wall and use Withdraw!" Wartortle goes into its shell and the shell glows a bit to signify that it has become temporarily stronger. Starmie is getting closer... "Starmie, use Tackle!" "Water Gun!" Zac shouts in response.

A stream of water shoots out of the shell's opening for Wartortle's head. The stream hits the underwater wall, causing Wartortle to propel himself like a torpedo straight at the charging Starmie. With a very strange, muffled-sounding cracking noise, they collide underwater. Wartortle pops back out of its shell and jumps out of the water to join Zac on the yellow platform. Starmie, motionless, slowly floats up to the surface, front side facing up. The big, glowing jewel in the middle is cracked.

"Starmie!" Misty cries in anguish. Zac's smile falters.

"Starmie is unable to battle! Wartortle wins! The winner of this Cerulean Gym match is Zac Merlo from...! Uh... Where are you from?" Zac hesitates, and then remembers the interview he saw on TV last night. "The Real World."

Misty returns her Starmie as she looks at Zac in shock. "Y-you're one of them? One of those poor kids who're stranded here?" "Yeah..." says Zac. "My God," she whispers. "I'm sorry you're stuck here. Is there anything we can do for you?" "Nope," Zac declines. "We'll do just fine by ourselves. We're just traveling Pokémon Trainers, nothing more. When Oak and the other scientists figure out a way for us to get back home, _then _I'll worry about the Real World. For now, I would like to be treated the same as all the other Trainers in this World."

Ash walks down from the bleachers. He shakes Zac's hand. "That was a great battle, Zac. That Withdraw-Water Gun combination... That was amazing! I never would have thought of that." Zac blushes slightly. "Thanks," he mumbles.

"Yeah, speaking of which," Misty says, "I need to get Starmie to a Pokémon Center right away. The faster I get Starmie's jewel fixed, the sooner we can battle, Chris." Chris nods. "Sounds good."

After firmly telling Ash to stay in the Gym, then kissing him, Misty leaves to get her Pokémon healed. Pikachu, Wartortle, and Bulbasaur chase each other around the huge room as Zac and Ash sit next to each other on the edge of the front row of the bleachers. Chris is sitting on the same yellow platform Zac just battled on. He's looking at his Pokédex in silence.

"So, how do you like it here?" Ash asks. "How do you like the Pokémon World?" Zac grins enthusiastically in response. "I _love _it here! The Real World is soooo boring compared to this place! Traveling the world, having adventures... this is the life!"

Ash laughs. "I wholeheartedly agree with you. There's nothing better than traveling with your Pokémon and your friends, huh?" Zac shakes his head happily. "Nope!"

They end up talking about different kinds of Pokémon. Zac is surprised to hear that there are many, many more than just 150. "There are... 386, I believe," Ash says, "if you include the legendaries."

When Misty walks in, Ash is describing some of his favorite non-Kanto Pokémon. "Okay!" she declares. Everyone stops what they're doing and go quiet as they look at her. Bulbasaur immediately runs to join Chris on the platform. Misty walks to the platform opposite Chris's platform. Chris stands up and pockets his Pokédex.

Misty points at him and Bulbasaur. "You two ready? Let's go!"

**w00t! My longest chapter yet! How was it? In the next chapter, I am not going into detail with Chris's and Andrew's battles with Misty. So, yeah... Just so you know, I put up something new on my user profile for this fic; an info section, if you will. It does not have much info yet, but it will soon enough. Well, until we meet again! Oh yeah, and make sure you review if you have read this. It is common courtesy, people! You read, you review. It is pretty simple, if you ask me, and a vast majority of people do not seem to do it. Getting reviews just makes me really happy, that is all. : ) **


	11. Zac's Powerful New Pokémon

Chapter 11 – Farewell, Cerulean City! Zac's Powerful New Pokémon

**I am going to start something new: I am going to respond to my reviews. : )**

**spitz - Yeah, I know, is Andrew great or what? (happy sigh) I am so proud of Andrew...**

**toasterovenman - They are 16 years old now. And yes, we will meet more people from the Real World, but not anytime soon, I am afraid. : (**

**Aztec Goddess - Cool, I am glad you like her new hair style. : ) Her old one never really bothered me, though. I kinda like it, actually. I just thought it would be interesting to change her appearance. And just so you know, I plan on bringing her back with her original hair style. Sorry! And as far as Ash goes... I did not mean he is, like, buff or anything. He is not big and muscular. I meant to say he is just... well toned, that is all. : P **

**Okay, on with the story!**

Chris has a much easier time battling Misty. After all, he has Bulbasaur, and as we all know, Grass kills Water. Chris knows that Bulbasaur must be at a very similar level as Squirtle was when he evolved. As a result, Chris uses her against both of Misty's Pokémon, eager to see her evolve into an Ivysaur.

However, the evolution never comes. Bulbasaur beats Staryu with a few well-placed Vine Whips. She doesn't evolve. Her battle against Starmie is a little more exciting. Since Starmie keeps diving underwater to avoid Bulbasaur's Vine Whip, Chris comes up with a clever plan.

"Bulbasaur, jump from this platform to the center one and use Sleep Powder as you go!"

With a running leap, Bulbasaur jumps from Chris's yellow platform to the red one in the center of the pool. Sparkling blue powder falls off her back as she leaps over the water. The powder settles on the surface of the water. Starmie breaks the surface to attack, but it soon falls asleep when it comes into contact with the Sleep Powder. Bulbasaur then finishes it with a couple of Vine Whips.

Bulbasaur beats both her opponents by herself and Chris gets his Badge, but she still hasn't evolved.

"Don't worry," Ash tells Chris after the battle. "Most of my strongest Pokémon have never even evolved past the first stage! My Bulbasaur is one of them." "Yeah..." says Chris, feeling a little better. "That's right," Zac says. "So stop crying like a freakin' baby."

Chris scowls at Zac.

Ash can't help but laugh. "You two are an interesting pair," he says. "You're both strong, too. I look forward to seeing you two in the Pokémon League." "If we make it that far," Chris mutters. "Chris, stop being stupid!" Zac says fiercely. "We _are _gonna make it that far!"

After their little conversation with Ash, Zac and Chris leave the Gym with the promise of returning tomorrow.

Chris blinks in the strong sunlight when they walk out. He sighs as they walk to the hospital. "I'm glad we both won," he says. "Of course we did," Zac replies. "Andrew will, too." Chris laughs. "Yeah," he says, "I can't wait to see Ash and Misty's reaction to him." "They'll probably just give him blank stares, just like everyone else's reaction to him," Zac says, shrugging.

They stay with Andrew in the hospital all day long. They play random board games and watch movies on the new TV, which has been installed as a replacement for the one that got ruined by a brick. To Andrew's great delight, Zac goes to a buffet to get dinner and brings back chicken nuggets, which apparently is Andrew's favorite food. Finally, night time comes, and after refusing Andrew's demands for candy, Zac and Chris go to the Cerulean Pokémon Center to crash for the night.

* * *

The next day proves to be just as nice as the one before it. Chris wakes up to see sunlight streaming through the windows of their room. After he wakes up Zac and the Pokémon, they all head over to the hospital to pick up Andrew.

"Just... try your best to keep a close eye on him," the doctor tells Zac and Chris at the front door of the hospital. He gives Andrew a nervous sideways glance as he repeatedly tries to leave the hospital by walking through the glass doors. "We always do," Chris assures the doctor.

"Does he even know the glass is there?" the doctor whispers anxiously. "Probably not," says Zac cheerfully. "Thanks for everything, Doctor, and stop worrying about him; he's made a full recovery, trust me."

And with that, the three Trainers leave the hospital to find a place to eat.

After a rather exhausting breakfast that involves restraining Andrew from gluing his pancakes to his face with syrup, the group makes their way to Misty's Gym.

Ash and Misty are both waiting for them. Misty doesn't look too happy. It seems that she has tried to keep Ash from showing himself again and failed. She sighs and walks to her side of the pool.

"Come on, Andrew, let's go."

Andrew hops over to his platform on one leg. His Pikachu tries to do the same, falls down several times, then finally runs to join its Trainer on the yellow platform.

"Hey, isn't he a bit young?" Ash calls down from the stands.

Misty gives Andrew a shrewd look. "Yeah, he's definitely not 10 years old, is he?"

Zac gets down from the bleachers and walks over to Misty. "No, but he has already earned his first Badge. That technically means he has been given permission to be in the League, right?" "I suppose..." Misty says slowly. "All right, if he has a Badge then he must already be a registered Trainer. Okay, let's start the battle!"

Zac walks back to the stands to rejoin Chris and Ash. He's thinking about Misty's words. (Hmmm... Is Andrew really a _registered_ Trainer? Did Brock register him or something? I guess we'll find out when we reach the Pokémon League...)

Andrew's second Gym battle isn't nearly as short as his first, but it is still pretty damn quick. Following Zac's advice, he lets Zubat fight Staryu for a little at the beginning of the battle. He then uses Mankey to finish Staryu off. When Misty brings Starmie out, Andrew's Pikachu makes short work of it. Starmie is actually able to land a Water Pulse and a Rapid Spin on Pikachu before Pikachu finishes it off.

In a matter of minutes, Andrew is dancing around the gigantic room with his Cascadebadge. Zac, Chris, Ash, and Misty watch in silence for a little while.

The group actually ends up staying with Ash and Misty for a good few hours. They eat lunch while Zac and Chris tell them about the Real World. Ash and Misty in turn tell them about the Pokémon World. Zac and Chris learn about the four major continents: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Kantohto. After Zac and Chris finish laughing at the name "Kantohto", Ash says, "My guess is that they ran out of good continent names, so they just took the names 'Kanto' and 'Johto' and put them together. Lazy bastards..." Everyone laughs at this.

Around 2:00 PM, the group says their final goodbyes to Ash and Misty.

"We'll definitely meet again!" Ash calls out the front door as the group leaves. "I can't wait to battle you guys at-!" Misty takes him by the ear and yanks him away from the doorway, firmly scolding him for nearly exposing himself to the public. Zac laughs, waves goodbye one last time, and the group finally leaves Cerulean City.

* * *

"Well, that was fun," says Chris. "Yep, it sure was..." Zac agrees.

They reach a bridge. Chris reads the sign. "Nugget Bridge," he reads out loud. Andrew suddenly perks up... even more than usual. "What, nuggets? _Chicken_ nuggets? I love nuggets of the chicken!" he yells. He sprints onto the bridge and jumps around happily. "Andrew!" Zac says sharply. "Stop being stupid!"

Andrew, however, doesn't stop as they walk down the bridge. By the time they reach the end of it, Zac is ready to wrap his hands around Andrew's neck and _kill _him. His violent urges are interrupted, however, by something very solid hitting him in the back... hard.

He goes flying and hits the ground face first. "Jiggly_puff_!" he hears a squeaky, angry voice say.

"Oh my god, it's so _cute_!" Chris exclaims, eyes sparkling. "Cute?" Zac growls as he slowly gets up. "_Cute_? Uh-uh... not cute. Dead; it's dead!" Zac turns around and gives the Jigglypuff that just rammed him in the back a death glare. Jigglypuff squeals in terror and hides behind Chris. Chris glares at Zac. "How dare you scare it!"

"Fine!" snaps Zac. "If you like it so much, Chris, why not let it join our little _group_?" He says this in a very ominous tone of voice. Chris gulps. Zac looks at Wartortle. "Wartortle, use Water Gun!"

Wartortle attacks Jigglypuff. The battle starts.

Jigglypuff dodges the water and starts spinning really fast. It launches its spinning body at Wartortle who can't possibly get out of the way in time. He goes flying into a nearby tree. "Wartortle!" Zac cries. He glares at Jigglypuff, and Jigglypuff glares back as it pulls out a microphone. Then, Zac's eyes slowly go wide in recognition...

"You're the Jigglypuff that saved us in Mt. Moon!"

Jigglypuff nods and puts the microphone to its lips, obviously preparing to sing. However, a strong stream of water sends it flying a few yards. Zac turns to see Wartortle limping his way back to his Trainer. That Rollout attack hit him pretty damn hard, but he's still ready to get his revenge on Jigglypuff.

Jigglypuff's body seems to inflate as it glares angrily at Wartortle. Then it returns to its normal size and charges at Wartortle with surprising speed. Before Wartortle can even do anything, he gets hit a good number of times by Jigglypuff's Double Slap. Wartortle somehow manages to get up again. Jigglypuff looks surprised, then smiles admiringly at Wartortle. Obviously, the balloon Pokémon wasn't expecting Wartortle to get up after a second attack. It is now clear to Zac that Jigglypuff is at a much higher level than Wartortle. (Why is it following me around...?) Zac wonders in agitation. (Maybe it _wants _to join us...) Wartortle suddenly lunges at Jigglypuff and uses Bite for the first time. Jigglypuff yelps in pain and doesn't respond right away. Wartortle takes his chance and uses Tackle. Jigglypuff's light body goes flying into the air. Wartortle follows up with a Water Gun. Jigglypuff gets hit in midair. It hits the ground, looking battered and bruised. Zac takes out a Pokéball. Chris gasps in surprise.

"Go, Pokéball!"

In a flash of red light, the Pokéball captures Jigglypuff. It shakes a few times, but Jigglypuff doesn't escape.

Zac cheers and picks up the Pokéball. However, when he picks it up, it breaks open. Jigglypuff appears at his feet. It smiles up at him fondly. "Jigglypuff!" it says happily as if it's greeting Zac.

"Wait..." Zac says slowly. "You... _let_ me catch you?" Jigglypuff nods.

Zac smiles at Chris. "Looks like it wanted to join us after all."

They make their way back to Cerulean so Zac can heal Wartortle and Jigglypuff at the Pokémon Center. Chris complains about not having any really cute Pokémon like Jigglypuff, Zac calls Chris gay, Chris yells at Zac for calling him that, and the group leaves Cerulean City again.

As they cross Nugget Bridge again, Zac grins to himself. (With Pokémon like Wartortle and Jigglypuff, _no_ one will have a chance of stopping me from becoming the undefeated Pokémon Champion!)

**And there you have it! A rather short chapter, but a good one nonetheless, right? I am gonna pick up the pace with this story now. I do not want to dwell on the whole Badge-collecting part for too long. There is much more to this story after the Pokémon League, and I want to get to it as quickly as possible! The next chapter will go directly to the Vermilion Gym. Oh, yeah, and just so you know, my profile has very informative character bios now. So until next time! And thanks for all your reviews. : )**


	12. Fight for the Thunderbadge!

**I am doing this one a little differently. The italic part in the beginning is a summary of what has happened between the last chapter and this chapter. As I want to speed this story along, you will see me do this fairly often now. **_  
_

_ A lot happened to Zac and company on the way to Vermilion City. It completely slipped Zac's and Chris's minds that crossing Nugget Bridge and following the ensuing road would eventually bring them to a dead end at the seaside. On the way there, they got into a good number of battles... and won them all. All three of them are still currently undefeated (except Andrew's spectacular loss to Brock before he joined Zac and Chris... but we don't talk about that). The trio ended up meeting Bill. He was fascinated that they were from the Real World. He asked all sorts of questions. When they left, he gave each of them an S.S. Anne ticket just for the hell of it. He told them that he gets them every year for absolutely no reason and therefore always gives some to visitors. _

_When the group finally reached Vermilion, it had been a grand total of two weeks since they had left Cerulean after defeating Misty..._

* * *

Chapter 12 - Fight for the Thunderbadge! Chris's Insecurity

It's the dead of night. Three weary, young travelers are trudging their way along the road to Vermilion City. They don't want to stop for the night since they are so close to the port city.

"You know," Chris groans, "this wouldn't be so hard if we didn't have to carry our Pokémon..."

Bulbasaur is fast asleep in his arms. Zac is struggling to carry a sleeping Wartortle. Both Pokémon fell asleep earlier, so Zac and Chris tried to put them in their Pokéballs. They immediately broke back out, glared at their Trainers, and promptly fell back to sleep. They tried it again... and the results were the same. The kids have no choice but to carry them.

"Shut up, Chris," Zac growls through clenched teeth. "_You _don't have to carry a Wartortle... He's so heavy!"

Pikachu, oddly enough, is wide awake. It is as energetic as usual. Its master, on the other hand, is basically sleepwalking.

They struggle on, and within 20 long minutes, they reach Vermilion City. They immediately hunt down the hotel, check in, and collapse onto their beds after dropping their Pokémon and their stuff on the floor. There are only two beds, but fortunately, Andrew fell flat on his face and began snoring the instant they walked through the door. Zac and Chris fall asleep just as fast on top of their neatly-made beds.

* * *

"Zac, what is _wrong_ with you?" Chris inquires. "Do you... need help or something?" 

Zac is having a very hard time spreading butter on his pancakes. "My muscles... are dead," he groans. He is finding it difficult to lift the knife and move it from side to side. He gives up. "You guys would never _believe _how many muscles it takes to spread butter. Because right now, I can feel every single one of them." Chris and Andrew look at each other, and then burst out laughing at that absurd statement. Zac, meanwhile, glares at Wartortle, who blinks innocently.

After they finish breakfast in the diner, they take a walk around town. Since it's a port town, it's busy and bustling with people. The smell of sea salt is in the air, and the atmosphere is generally bright and cheerful.

"Well," says Zac, peering at a sign, "the _S.S. Anne _is scheduled to begin its cruise in three weeks..." He looks at the others. "What do you guys think?"

"Three weeks...?" Chris replies skeptically. "I don't really want to wait here that long..."

"Well," Zac says again, "we can go to Celadon, get our 4th badges, and come back here. If we're not delayed, the timing would be perfect. At least I _think_ it would be."

"Boats are kinda cool," is Andrew's answer.

"We'll see," is Chris's more relevant answer.

After a while, the group makes its way to the Vermilion Gym. Zac crosses his arms and faces the rather imposing metal front doors. "Looks more like a military place than a Gym," he comments.

"Well, Zac," Chris points out, "this _is _Lt. Serge we're talking about here. He's a big military man, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Andrew chimes in. "He's got a Raichu, right?" Zac and Chris both nod.

"All right, let's go in," Zac declares finally.

The group walks up, bangs on the doors, and gets an almost immediate response. The doors open up and an armed soldier silently waves them in, gesturing for them to follow him. He leads them straight to Serge and the Gym's Pokémon arena.

"You are dismissed," Serge says in a commanding voice. Zac raises his eyebrows in confusion, then turns to see the escorting soldier salute and walk out of the arena. Zac turns his head to face Serge's grinning face.

"Welcome to my Gym!" he booms. "Now, all three of you have come to battle me?" The kids nod. "Interesting," Serge comments, looking at their Pokémon with a bemused expression. "And why aren't those Pokémon in their Pokéballs?"

"They don't like 'em," Zac replies with a shrug.

The Gym echoes with Serge's sharp laughter. "Interesting, indeed!" he repeats. "So unusual, I must say. Tell me your names."

"Zac Merlo."

"Chris Mattice, nice to meet you."

"Andrew!"

"And where are you all from?" the Gym Master inquires.

"Uh… the Real World," Zac answers.

Serge suddenly freezes and squints at Zac. His eyes go wide in what seems to be recognition. "You're that boy!" he says, sounding somewhat excited. "The boy Gray told me about!"

"Gray?" Zac repeats, confused.

"He must mean that agent who helped us in Mt. Moon," Chris recalls. "The one that said you would make, um, a great hero." Both he and Zac burst out laughing at that ridiculous notion. Serge frowns.

"Why are you laughing?" he asks sharply. "I know that man well. Trust his judgment. He most definitely knows what he's talking about."

A frown creeps onto Zac's features as well. "How can he say I could be a hero judging by what I did in Mt. Moon? I did what anyone else would do!"

"Gray wouldn't say it for no reason," Serge says sharply. "Listen to your superiors, boy." Zac's frown morphs into a scowl. "Superior, huh? Well, I think that's why I'm here: to prove that _I _am superior."

"All right, then!" Serge booms. "Let's start!"

He and Zac take their respective spots on either end of the field, Wartortle right next to his master.

"All right, kid, my rules aren't as lenient as the ones you will find in other Gyms!" Serge declares. "Other Leaders will use a small amount of Pokémon and allow their opponents to use more than them. That makes it too easy! We're going one-on-one, boy!"

Zac smirks. "Fine by me," he replies, taking out a Pokéball.

As expected, Serge releases his prized Raichu. Zac releases Jigglypuff, and as expected, Serge laughs loudly at the little balloon Pokémon.

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Lieutenant!" Zac advises. "Now, Jigglypuff, use Rollout!" Raichu jumps over Jigglypuff, leaving Jigglypuff vulnerable for a second. "Thunderbolt!" Serge commands. The powerful Electric attack hits Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff takes the hit and simply shakes it off.

"Huh?" Serge says, confused. "It barely got hurt... My Raichu's Thunderbolt should have been more devastating on a mere Jigglypuff! After all, it's not even _evolved_..."

"Don't forget what I said at the beginning of this battle," Zac says, grinning. However, he is as surprised as Serge is. "Now, Jigglypuff, use Double Slap!" Raichu is too slow. It gets smacked in the face several times. The Double Slap seems to have affected Raichu a lot more than the Thunderbolt affected Jigglypuff. "Raichu, use Shock Wave!" Although, weak, Shock Wave is unavoidable. A flash of lightning hits Jigglypuff before it can even blink. "Now use Body Slam!" Serge commands. "Jigglypuff, jump backwards and use Rollout," Zac replies. He grins at the look on Serge's face. Serge knows it's over.

Jigglypuff jumps back, dodging the Body Slam. It starts spinning in midair and as soon as it touches the floor, it launches itself into Raichu. Raichu goes flying back, lands on its back, and doesn't get back up.

The ref is nearly rendered speechless. It takes him a moment to recover from what he just saw and raise his flag and announce, "Raichu is unable to battle! Jigglypuff wins! Victory goes to Zac Merlo from the Real World!"

Jigglypuff and Raichu are returned. "That... was probably... the shortest battle I've had... in years!" Serge says, awestruck. "And defeated by a Jigglypuff! You, sir, are an amazing Trainer!"

Zac doesn't have the heart to tell Serge that he never really trained Jigglypuff; Jigglypuff just _came_ that way. "Uh, thanks," says Zac, rubbing the back of his head and chuckling sheepishly.

Next up is Chris. Their battle is longer than Zac's. Serge's fully-healed Raichu goes against Chris's Bulbasaur. Serge sighs at the sight of another unevolved Pokémon.

"Hey, it's not _my_ fault!" Chris says defensively. "She just hasn't evolved. I haven't tried to _stop_ her or anything!" Bulbasaur frowns at Chris, but he doesn't seem to notice. Zac shakes his head in disappointment.

"What? What's the matter?" Andrew asks.

"Nothing," Zac mutters. "Don't worry about it."

Even though Electric has little effect on Grass, Bulbasaur has a pretty hard time. However, Bulbasaur is able to finish it with Sleep Powder and one last Vine Whip.

Andrew is up next after Serge heals his Raichu once again. Andrew releases Mankey and Serge releases Raichu _again_.

"Jeez, didn't you have anything else?" Andrew sighs exasperatedly. Zac and Chris can barely hold back their laughter as Serge shouts angrily in response, "Yes, I do! And don't _you _kids have anything else besides unevolved Pokémon?" Wartortle snorts indignantly.

This battle turns out to be really close. Mankey seems to have no chance at first, but it gets angry and unleashes a series of painful physical attacks. Raichu eventually falls, leaving Mankey extremely worn out but triumphant.

"Yeah!" Zac cheers. "Great job, Andrew! We all beat him!"

Serge is shocked. "I can't believe..." he mutters. "All _three_ of them... with _unevolved_ Pokémon..." Zac, Chris, and Andrew stop cheering to watch Serge. It looks like he's about to explode in anger... but instead his face splits into a huge grin. "You boys are great," he congratulates. "Those Pokémon of yours are great as they are. Just think of how much greater they'll be when they evolve!"

Chris gives a strained smile. He's still upset about his Bulbasaur not evolving whereas Squirtle evolved weeks ago.

After the kids get their badges, they say goodbye to a cheerful Serge and leave the Gm, escorted by another soldier.

"Well, we still have a good few hours before nighttime," Zac says happily as they walk out of the Gym through the foreboding doors and out into the sunshine. "What do you guys wanna do?"

"Train" Chris replies shortly. "Come on, Bulbasaur. Let's find some opponents." And with that, he and a frowning Bulbasaur walk away. Zac and Andrew just stand there and watch them walk away, blinking in confusion. Zac forgets to tell Chris when and where to meet up.

"What's his problem?" Andrew asks, frowning. Zac looks down at Andrew in surprise. The boy is usually disconnected from life and completely unobservant. He seems to genuinely care about Chris.

"Well," answers Zac, "he's mad." "At who?" "No one in particular. Bulbasaur isn't evolving and she's had just as much experience as Wartortle." Zac narrows his eyes. "Chris needs to realize that this isn't a video game. Pokémon won't automatically evolve at a certain experience level. They each go at their own pace, just like humans... He needs to learn patience."

Andrew stares at Zac blankly. Zac surprised even himself with his sudden burst of insight, so it's no surprise that Andrew has become confused. Zac looks back at Andrew and suddenly starts laughing. Now Andrew is really confused.

"What are you talking-" Andrew begins, but Zac puts a hand on his shoulder and keeps laughing. "Don't worry about it," Zac says after he stops laughing. "I don't even know why I'm laughing. Who cares? Chris will be fine, that fatty." Andrew starts laughing, too.

* * *

"Bulbasaur..." Chris says without looking at his Pokémon. They are walking back to town, the midnight sky looming over them. Bulbasaur looks up at him with a sad face. The two of them trained hard all day long. They fought many battles and won them all. She knows this, but she can also still sense hostility coming from him. Chris sighs. He doesn't know what to say to her. He knows she has done a great job; he can't be angry at her. However, he still feels resentment... 

"Bulbasaur, you did a great job today," he mutters. "I'm sure you've gotten stronger, and that was our goal..." Bulbasaur can't help but notice the bitter tone underlying the compliment. "Bulba?" she questions softly.

Chris stops walking and crouches down to face his Pokémon. "Why don't you _evolve_?" he whispers miserably. Now Bulbasaur understands the problem. She smiles and hops into his arms. He stands back up and continues walking.

"Sq evolved, and you two have trained basically the same amount. Actually, after today, you've trained _more _than him! So what's the problem, Bulbasaur? Are you sick? Is it... is it... something _I'm _doing wrong?" Bulbasaur adamantly shakes her head in response. Chris walks in silence for a while as he mulls this over...

(Wait, what's wrong with me? Why do I care about her evolution so much?) He looks down at her. Her eyes are already closed. (Does it really matter? I mean, Ash's Pikachu never evolved... and look at how powerful he is! Maybe Bulbasaur just doesn't want to yet... That's fine with me. I've been acting really stupid about this.)

Yes, that's right. Chris finally ends his silent little hissy-fit. He realizes how stupid his impatience is and accepts Bulbasaur. He wouldn't even care if she _never _evolved. (Besides,) he thought with a grin, (what's Zac gonna do when he has a full-grown Blastoise following him around?) He chuckles silently at the thought.

When he finally reaches the hotel, he is surprised to find the room's door open and the lights still on. The TV is on, Andrew is fast asleep facedown and spread-eagle on the floor, and Zac is snoring somewhat loudly in an armchair. Wartortle and Pikachu were still awake, however. They are delighted to see Chris walk in. He places Bulbasaur in a little pile of blankets that serves as her bed.

"It's okay now," he whispers to the two awake Pokémon. "I've gotten over my problem." Wartortle and Pikachu look at each other and let out relieved sighs. They won't have to help him get over it, after all. Chris quietly laughs as he turns out the TV and the lights. "You two knew all along, huh? Well, I'm done being stupid now... so let's forget about it and go to sleep."

The two Pokémon happily agree, and soon everyone in the room is fast asleep.

**Yes, this chapter came out very short, and I apologize for this. My free time is absorbed with a new game I play, MapleStory. It's an MMORPG, and they can be very addicting... I also apologize for the wait. I'll be writing less often now. : (**


End file.
